This collection of songs brings together some of the myriad voices that emerge in the city of Delhi, where multiple realities collide and co-exist. They take the form of politically explosive affirmations, social satire, intimate yearnings, fragmented memories and echoes of individual and collective desire. Like the ephemeral nature of the city itself, these tracks shift between diverse genres, styles, languages, sounds, sensibilities and textures to create a sense of the alchemy of a place.
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Trailer
Part of the Norient Online Special Norient City Sounds: Delhi
The third edition of the Norient City Sounds series is moored in Delhi, India, as it tunes in to a polyphony of voices, songs, sounds, and narratives that reimagine and unconceal the various worlds and characters constituting the capital’s sonicities. NCS Delhi unpacks and complicates the notion of the city by scattering it into its many cities with their colliding histories, rhythms, tales, and desires. Through a collection of sound pieces, texts, films, photo-essays, conversations, graphic artworks, and more, #DelhiSensate evokes the deeply layered and composite sensorium of a city that both senses and is sensed in a multitude of ways. Curated by Suvani Suri.
Explore the full Special here.
The Tracks
1. Songs for a Tired City: «A.I.R»
Songs from a Tired City is a project formed by two long time Eno fans Shiv Ahuja and Jayant Manchanda where the two brew the sounds they grew up with into their music. The ambient, post-punk, and industrial tape style of music that they make is an attempt to evoke a longing for a past never actually experienced and a sense of disquiet for a future that they don’t want to experience. «A.I.R» is constructed around the haunting nostalgia and somewhat melancholic theme tune of the state-run All India Radio service Akashvani (translated to the voice that comes from the sky). For many who grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s, the tune was an omnipresent soundtrack that seeped into everyday consciousness as the voice of the state.
2. Ahmer, Tufail: «Bilya»
Ahmer is a prolific rapper and producer from Srinagar, Kashmir who has become a very important figure in the Delhi hip hop scene. He has released two groundbreaking albums – Little Kid Big Dreams and AZLI, awarded 2022 album of the year by Indian Music Diaries. Ahmer’s success has given a boost to his musical community back home and inspired many others to craft their own stories and music. «Bilya» is an electrifying bilingual lyrical rampage by Ahmer and fellow Kashmiri rapper Tufail sharing hard-hitting bars over a captivating beat. The track has been produced by the legendary 30KEY!, an influential figure in the thriving Kashmiri hip hop scene.
3. FINSTA: «PURRRRR»
Kinari aka FINSTA has emerged as one of the foremost voices for the LGBTQ+ community in Delhi’s rap scenes over the last year. Her disco and house samples are bringing a new queer wave to Delhi hip hop music. Always independent and self-produced, her compositions bring to life the sounds of the undercity, where the party never ends. FINSTA’s track «PURRRRR» is the explosive opening to her debut mixtape QUEERBOPS and has become a dance floor number. The verses are filled with electrifying hooks that make it such a party anthem which have the listeners yelling the lines along with her. The self-authored and edited music video for «PURRRRR» is a trailblazing work where FINSTA looks the listener straight in the eye and affirms her space, leaving them entranced by the sheer force of her words and delivery style.
4. Ditty: «On an Island»
Ditty’s music flows from her life as an urban ecologist and her practice of building deep connections with the natural world. She writes intimate protest songs about the miserable state of landscapes and cities in South Asia – the strain on natural habitats and the challenges of poverty, pollution, and climate change. «On an Island» is a song from Poetry Ceylon, her EP about her experience of leaving Delhi – the city she grew up in – and making a temporary home on the island of Sri Lanka.
5. Pho: «Aastik»
Akriti aka Pho is a songwriter, rapper, and beatboxer who has seen a meteoric rise in the last two years drawing the attention of Indian and international media. As an artist who effortlessly flows between mellow love ballads and power anthems in Hindi as well as English, she has created a sound which bridges the gap between pop and hip hop. As shared by the artist, «Aastik» aims at expressing a feeling of letting the feminine side of a person take control over everything for a while. The idea of «Aastik» is to express the power and beauty of the feminine and how it is absolutely okay to let the masculine watch the powerful, fearless, kind, and passionate feminine take over.
6. EXCISE DEPT: «Baaro Maala»
EXCISE DEPT are a Delhi and Mumbai-based collective with a unique and experimental approach to crafting music and visual media. In the artists’ own words, «Baaro Maala» was written «during a sweltering New Delhi summer in 2022 – that season of delirious heat and malfunctioning air conditioners that everyone in the city is well accustomed to. Thankfully some heavenly gospel chops and ice-cold funk basslines brought solace to EXCISE DEPT, and the instrumental for the song was born». The track with its twists and turns in the form of rap verses in Bengali and Punjabi expresses their frustrations with the music scene despite which the group stays committed to their own artistic language and truths, continuing to make all their music independently.
7. Zenguin: «Snowbound Toasty»
Progressive rock, ambient electronica, modern jazz and drum’n’bass melt into a melange of frenetic lushness created by the trio Zenguin. Considered one of Delhi’s most exciting acts, Zenguin’s «cross pollination of genres» has been hailed by fans and critics alike. According to the band they are driven by «a thirst to find the perfect marriage between the digital and analog reality of music». «Snowbound Toasty» is one of the band’s most iconic tracks – a rollercoaster ride that takes the listener through multiple shifts in moods and textures.
8. Mag Phos: «Last Seen on»
Mag Phos is a trio composed of musicians fumbling around with analog synths and drum machines. Their EP titled Timestamps was released in 2017 and remains an obscure underground find which attempts a different synth pop sound as an alternative to the highly polished and slick production aesthetic that was quite popular then. According to Sajid Akbar, the writer of «Last Seen on», the song is «on the fence about what it wants to say, and why it is here in the first place. Fragmented, fuzzy, and yet familiar, it takes solace in its own uncertainty».
9. Bawari Basanti: «Izehaar»
Bawari Basanti is a musician and storyteller who weaves her music based on her own experiences and inspired from her conversations with people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and philosophies. «Izehaar», created in collaboration with producer Vedang, is a track which blends classical and ghazal vocals with a hip hop aesthetic. The satirical lyrics of the song question the hypocrisy of moral policing and the subjugation of individual expression and freedom in the name of «Indian culture», especially towards women.
10. Advaita: «In the Air (Live at Oddbird)»
Advaita is a popular Delhi-based musical act known for creating a modern «classical fusion» sound that blends Hindustani classical music with pop, rock, and electronic music. The live recording of their track «In the Air» is from a 2019 concert titled Unison held at the Oddbird Theatre, an experimental performance space. The lyrics of the song are based on a radical kalaam (poem) by the 17th century Sufi saint and philosopher Baba Bulleh Shah. The words question those who devoutly follow all the rituals of faith but may not practice true compassion in their lives.
