Just a garnishing of the unexpected in a song which otherwise sticks to its genre can change its entire flavour. In independent rock musician Sai Sanjit S.’ debut album Retrograde, a silky saxophone solo pops up in the middle of a progressive rock song, while a few rousing Malayalam lines appear out of nowhere in another song. But, these do not stick out as elements brought in just for novelty, but something which is organically part of the song.
The list of collaborators in the album can make one wonder, right from music producer Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, Porcupine Tree, U2) to Rex Vijayan of Avial and Uday Benegal of Indus Creed and vocalist Sooraj Santosh. Much of the collaborations began with Sanjit dropping them a message with a link of his demo tapes, which were clearly impressive enough to make them work with him. While Palmer and Vijayan has done the production on some of the tracks, Benegal and Santosh are co-singers in a track each.
Sanjit, who started out as a bass guitarist with the grunge rock band Fish In The Sink in 2014, started making his own music around 2017. But, after a few years of trying to put out his music, and with things not really working out, he was about to give up.
“I have seen myself as a hobbyist musician. Much of what I have learned initially was from YouTube. Meeting my band mates was a turning point. But then, I started writing my own music too. Then, I started reaching out online to some of the best musicians I have been a fan of for years. They liked my demos, and to my surprise, they all came on board for the album. I didn’t initially have money to pay these people, but landing a job as a graphic designer for a New Jersey-based company helped me in that,” says Sanjit.
Though he wrote much of the vocal melodies, guitar and bass line as well as the synth score, he had his bandmate Sujith Valiyaveettil as a co-producer who had a significant contribution to the final sound of the album. Riju Andrews Jacob rendered the powerful vocals for the album, while Suyash Gabriel played the drums.
One of the things that stand out from the album is the rich and lush soundscapes, which opens up new layers with every listen. The six songs and the six instrumentals play out as a continuum, like a concept album. Disillusionment with modern life, with its over dependence on technology, the make belief mediatised world and the expectation on everyone to follow set patterns all run as common themes through the songs. The depth of the compositions mark the arrival of an artiste to look forward to in the independent music scene. The album has begun streaming on Spotify and other platforms.