Siddharth Basrur’s new release, the second installation of his Chasing Rain series, isn’t all that great; it’s decent enough, with the occasional high point. But it doesn’t quite seem to do justice to the guy’s talent. But that’s forgivable in this case, unlike with other records. That’s because Basrur has this one very endearing tool at his disposal, called sincerity, aka the opposite of misplaced irony. The audible joy in his voice is a reflection of the honesty of the simple, alt-rockish sounding music. He’s not bullshitting his listeners, and they will get that. It’s also what allows him to call his album Chasing Rain, sing about making chicken-and-cheese sandwiches (‘Sandwich Song’), and use ‘September’ in a song title (‘Come September’). As an aside, could it be a very clever preemptive ploy by Basrur to use the word ‘cheese’ in ‘Sandwich Song’, thus preventing reviewers the world over from calling it just that?

One problem with Chasing Rain - Chapter Two is the slight Creed thing happening on the guitars, most prominently on opener ‘Light Up My Life’. Forgive this writer for not being open-minded, but Creed is just the worst. But overall, the release has this simplistic and appealing alternative sound, driven forth by the resonant vocal delivery settling into the sound snugly. The melodies are pleasant but a little lacking in terms of recall value – they’re far too accessible and the absence of just a little tension, especially on the first two songs, is glaring. It’s pop-rock category, really. But the edge does appear on ‘Come September’, which develops stealthily into mammoth stadium rock thanks to its very catchy chorus before shifting gears into a guitar solo passage that invokes a little bit of Alice in Chains, in spirit if not in actual style and sound, before returning to the very majestic chorus line.

Essentially, Chasing Rain - Chapter Two is not a masterpiece or anything of the sort, but it is another charming snippet of Basrur’s growth as a singer and a songwriter and a stylistic versatility where he still retains a keen ear for melody, even if he’s playing it safe here.

Stream Chasing Rain - Chapter Two by Siddharth Basrur below: