Although the last few years have been a bummer, what with COVID taking over all our lives and leaving them uninteresting, the past few years have also given us some really talented, off-beat indie music artists.
With more time on their hands during the lockdown, these singers got down to business, wrote their best songs yet, recorded and marketed them – all from their home studios, some too humble to even mention.
This creative wave that began during the first lockdown in 2020 is still on rise, giving us some of the best artists we have had the good fortune to listen to and cherish yet.
And in today’s article, we’ll shine a light on 9 such people who changed the course of the music industry with the sheer force of their quiet yet powerful talent.
9. Adi (Hip Hop)
Mumbai born and brought up but with the soul of a free bird, this hip-hop artist tied up his love of up with slow-rhythmic blues and created something extraordinary. His song PIGEONHOLD was one of the best things about 2020, when it was first released.
8. Thugs Unit (Hip-Hop)
Mo Boucher and Irish Boi made an epic comeback with their album titled Resurrection 040. As aesthetic in its sonic elements as it is in the name Thugs Unit showcased full-length of their talent with those close-to-heart Urdu and Sufi lyrics. Heavy on meaning and light on the heart, this album is an epic renaissance of the reggae duo that had been long missed by fans all these years.
7. citimall (Mumbai)
No, no; we aren’t talking about a shopping complex here. This is Mumbai’s latest, colourful hip-hop crew that’s been making waves for a while now. A group that includes Sonam Mukherji as the producer and rap-artists Mad Prophit, A$AP Allah, Don Cody to name a few, this band is all the rage nowadays.
Needless to say, this group of music-crazed people have some really exciting times ahead of them, mark our words.
6. Corner Café Chronicles (Psych Roch)
Renaissance is in the air for this Mumbai based electro band. The credits for their soothing vocals goes to the guitarist and synth-player Swanand Thakur. Their latest, a six track EP named Renaissance broke free of all the conventions and gave us a fiery mix of rock riffs, solos, ambient sections, funk, to name a few.
5. Drum Ani Bass (Live Electronica)
Drumming to his own beats, Dhir Mody from Mumbai and bassist Nathan Thomas released their debut seven-track album 1403 back in 2020.
Their live shows were really well by the public from the very beginning of their career. And now, they are at a point where people are crazy for their showcase of dextrous musicmanship by blending various different styles of electronic music.
4. Dolorblind (Electronic)
The capital isn’t too far behind either where melody is concerned. Producer Rohan Sinha, also known as Dolorblind, symbolised his life’s highs and lows in the seven track debut Forbidden Fruit. The melancholy notes of the album synced perfectly with the underlying upbeat elements – depicting the various phases of life he’s been through and grown with.
3. Saachi (Pop)
This Mumbai based songwriter has been growing in popularity ever since she released her first single. Her 2018 track Clarity gained momentum among the fans and gave her the push she needed to climb the stairs of local stardom.
She returned to her music in 2020 with a fresh new song titled “DO/DON’T” which was just as conflicting and beautiful as it’s name.
2. Abdon Mech (Singer-Songwriter)
The state of Nagaland is budding with unheard of talent and Abdon Mech is a living proof of that. Although he prefers fly under the radar, his songs still caught the attention of musicians like Ehsaan Noorani, Taba Chakr, nd Raghav Meattle.
His debut single Again was received exceptionally well that gave him the confidence to release anigher indie-rock lead single ‘Give Me My Soul Back’
1. Vinay Kaushal (Rock/Jazz/Blues)
The Pune guitarist who went in a break in 2018 came back with two heart touching singles in 2020. His acoustic ‘Reality Check’ was a fresh new reminder of the reason why he enjoys the fan following that he does.
His jazz pop track ‘Is it Sunny?’ featuring singer Shathishree Gopalan grabbed Kaushal by the arm and threw him into the limelight yet again. And we loved every single minute of it.
