Mumbai composer and multi-instrumentalist Sidd Coutto has a rather ambitious release plan for 2021. He is releasing 12 EPs, one on the 6th of each month. That’s a hell of a lot of music, but he has had these tracks for a long time and is now ready to release them, he says. January’s offering is ‘Glow’, a three track EP with an innocence to it that’s rather nice to hear given everything around us and so on. Having a small and sunny break from it all is very important these days and that is this release’s biggest virtue.

Having been in the scene for a couple of decades now, Sidd’s songwriting is obviously super strong. The twelve-ish minutes of music here is tightly packaged and has no unnecessary fat whatsoever. The songs have a jaunty and romantic air to them; the title track that opens the EP has this in gratifying amounts. The shuffling rhythm and peppy guitars set it up really well and his vocal is strong. The refrain exudes the same charm. Structurally, it’s appropriately simple; there is a buildup to the last chorus that isn’t a second too long. ‘You And Me’ is possibly the emotional standout here with its layered chords, solid bass and the happiest chorus of the three tracks. There’s even a short guitar-led bridge that works great in this context. ‘Stay With Me’ is heavy on additional orchestration and instrumentation but retains the same songwriting simplicity. The violins imply the rhythm here which a nice touch. His vocals are slightly high up in the mix here (and throughout the EP), but the layers of backing vocals give it a nice body. If you’re in for a positive and genuinely happy experience, even if it’s only for a little while, ‘Glow’ provides that. Taking ten or so minutes to forget about everything and just feel nice is a good thing.