By Anurag Tagat for Rolling Stone India
Our verdict on the latest from Indian-origin artist Madame Gandhi’s loved-up EP, prog bands Antimatter LR and Apocryphal, singer-composer Sameer Rahat’s electronic experiments and others.
Madame Gandhi – Love Letters from Brooklyn
★★★
Indo-American artist and activist Madame Gandhi has often proved how she’s at home pretty much anywhere in the world, but more so in India (where she returned to perform in late 2025), London and New York. On her latest five-track project, Love Letters from Brooklyn, she trades the more overt activist messaging to create something dedicated to her partner — medal-winning pugilist Lesley Sackey. Gandhi reflects on their long-distance and queer relationship, keeping it relatable and smooth. Percussion and rhythms are still very much Gandhi’s forte. Joined by producers and songwriters from the music organization Gender Amplified, Gandhi is resolute on “You Are Love(D)” and fusses over FOMO in “Jet Lagged.” R&B leads the way on sensual songs like “All In All” and “I Believe It,” the latter also featuring her distinct beat breaks. “Gold” talks about the love that survives across continents, with the feel-good side of Gandhi spilling out like never before on Love Letters from Brooklyn.
Sameer Rahat – Rozmarra EP
★★★★
The shimmering synth, drum pads, and filtered vocals of “Ye Subah” that welcome listeners on singer-composer and producer Sameer Rahat’s new EP Rozmarra may make you do a double take, but it is also likely to bring a reassured smile on your face. Taking listeners from daybreak to dusk across five tracks, Rahat trusts not just his production palette but also his storytelling instincts. “Kaisa Din” wallows in melancholy, but with indie-pop rhythmic flourishes and a horn section that make for a delightful combo. If anyone wanted the Rahat they knew from his album Aamad, he is unmistakably present in the ambient, spoken-word-driven “Tsunami Raat” and “Lambi Shaam,” which is steadily built up into a swaying, dreamy tune with Kashmiri artist Mir Kashif Iqbal. Rahat also enlists singer-songwriter Ditty for the stirring title track, his deep baritone engaged in a point and counterpoint with Ditty’s distinctly folky vocals. Rozmarra is adorned with poetry, showing off a bit of production prowess and keeping soul at the center of it all, which remains Rahat’s superpower of sorts.
Karan Kanchan – Global Warning
★★★★
Producer Karan Kanchan never takes it lightly when he knows he’s sharing credits with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. That’s what’s made him stand tall among those very names. Under his ownOdd Forbid, the account opens with his stacked album Global Warning. The music is just as important as the bars, even if they’re coming from rap stars like Raga, Ikka, Gravity, Yung Raja, Yung Sammy (“Wosos”), Shreyas and Tricksingh. “Durghatna” is amped up with distorted riffs for aptly incendiary rhymes by Raga and Ikka. Gravity adds a flirty but snarling vibe on the dubstep and trap-inspired “Ten.” Kanchan tunnels in and out of club-ready electronic beats on “Ifusayso,” with Yung Raja’s Tamil adding to the linguistic diversity. Monk Lama leads “Bhaag,” which sounds like it’s straight out of a Fast & Furious race scene. Tricksingh cheekily asks Kanchan for a wubwub on “Unstoppable,” and it’s promptly delivered. If there’s one standout team-up more than others, Kanchan saves the best for last on Global Warning, calling on vocalist-composer Mahesh Kale and rapper Shreyas for “Sadhana.” Wrapped in gratitude as well as self-reflection, Kale brings a bandish, while Shreyas adds a grim but poignant verse, almost continuing from his own feature on the album, “Charcha.” Clearly influenced by Kanchan’s EDM idols like Skrillex and KSHMR, Global Warning lets the producer introduce rap the way he likes it: party-friendly but fiery.
Tribemama Marykali – Scorpio Moon EP
★★★★
Kerala artist Tribemama Marykali returns to music after a three-year hiatus, and it’s a universe unto itself on the Scorpio Moon EP. Across five tracks, Marykali proves there’s no one else quite like her in terms of artistic, lingual, and sonic choices. “Goldfish,” with its Malayalam and English lyrics, conveys an ornate love song that glows with her sensual R&B vocals. “Leela” is the one that opens the EP, leading with slick, exhilarating hip-hop production by RET and Da Architect. Marykali makes it feel effortless when she sings about femininity in the most luxuriant ways. She introduces Malayalam vocal melodies over Afro-inspired beats on the dancefloor-ready “Serpent” and slows down to tell us about postpartum pain on “Painkiller.” The somber moment only lasts that long, because Marykali’s version of a baddie is a vengeful one, as heard on the towering “Kill The Beast.” She stretches her vocals resplendently, vowing, “I came to kill the beast.” At a time when most Indian pop is obsessed with youthful emotions, Scorpio Moon is the diary of a woman in a different stage in her life, reflecting on holding on to love, living through changing times and staying fabulous and ferocious through it all.
Vian Fernandes – 42.195
★★★½
When he’s not windmilling his dreads on stage with fusion rock/metal act Thaikkudam Bridge, bassist Vian Fernandes is a marathoner, it seems. His album 42.195 is inspired by the feelings a runner goes through during a marathon. New age-inspired in its treatment, Fernandes and his collaborators take us through cheery chants and hopeful hues, conveying a helpful amount of depth in the sonic choices so that these songs don’t just pass you by. In fact, one of the strongest cuts on the album is “Mountain Monk” — a blend of percussion from the Thrissur Pooram temple festivities, breathy vocals, a bit of slap bass and guitars inspired by the Himalayas. Fernandes delivers grooves on “Matala” and light bops like “Sumani Kamana,” but it’s towards the end of the album — which is also perhaps towards the end of a race — that there’s a push towards the intense and cinematic on “Running High” with its powerful sitar portion. 42.195 accomplishes being music for runners and showcases another side to Fernandes, who’s gone from death metal to fusion to new age.
Sick Industry – Rust in the Economy EP
★★★★
We’ve seen India’s singer-songwriter scene go from open-mic to arenas in the last decade, but there’s still a lot more to explore in terms of sonic choices. New Delhi’s Sick Industry aka Shreya Gajbhiye — who was part of rock band Ladyship — is happy to be that explorer, as she “mourns the end of the world” on her debut EP Rust in the Economy. Where the rest of the world has spawned artists like Beabadobee, Blondshell and of course, Phoebe Bridgers who exist in the space between rock, pop and singer-songwriter, Sick Industry is perhaps India’s much-needed answer. Aided by producer Amartya Ghosh, the acoustic guitars bouncing against distorted guitars on “Ultimate Simp Song” are just the bedrock for an earnest yet infatuated dialogue (“And if you knew you me you’d never be into me,” she sings). The rest of the five-track EP is dreamy in a melancholic way (“Good News”), nocturnal, radio-friendly pop (“Ironic”), tenderly hopeful and pastoral with bird sounds (“Spring Song”) and just effortlessly cool in the way Nineties rock bands like The Cranberries were (“Miracle Worker”). With a full-length album called Exorcism of Sick Industry on the way, Sick Industry is one to watch.
Champak – A1
★★★★
A multi-city musical project, in this economy? Champak comprises drummer, singer-songwriter and producer Shoumik Biswas aka Disco Puppet, percussionist, synth artist and backing vocalist Aditya Bharadwaj, guitarist-producer Lakshman Parsuram aka February 31st and bassist Aman Chawla, and their debut album A1 shows all the multitudes they contain. Like rough demos that have been pushed into a confessional booth, Champak has the sonic and lyrical abstraction that makes you want to keep listening to find out what they’re singing about. “Tempest” is self-defeating and cycles through a few movements, offering a kind of fleeting comfort. If some members add indie, electronic and sound experiments, others add post-rock lushness, and that’s a combo you can’t say many can encapsulate. “Hydrogen” is an insomniac’s psychedelic jam with fuzzy yet airy guitars as Biswas yawns, “Oh sleep just come to me.” From jumpy, Bloc Party-esque Bengali alt-rock (“Daarkaak”) to urgent freakouts (“Love Is Blind”) and a sullen rock version of what sounds entirely like a Disco Puppet song (“Feed The Clown”), Champak cast their net far and wide and tinker with their catch. In that way, A1 becomes one of the most intriguing rock releases in recent times.
Madame Gandhi | BLOG 