Artist: Uddipan Sarmah
Album: Zindagi
Label: Independent
Mastered at:
Release Date: 10th December, 2012
While trying to pen down a review of this album, I thought long and hard about opening paragraph. Two hours and a mild headache later, I’ve decided to give up. Reason? Uddipan Sarmah’s Zindagi is an enigma; and for several reasons. Repeated listens later I can’t make up my mind whether it’s cheesy like the Atif Aslam – Mukesh Bhatt collaborations that every so often pop up in the Bollywood mainstream or whether it manages to tread carefully along that line akin to bands like Anathema. Maybe it is a bit of both. And yet…….. it is neither. Confused yet? Welcome to the state of my mind currently.
You see the album has songs like Duur that are, without a doubt, something straight out of a Dominoes oven – pushed further off the ledge by (and in that order) a female voice heavily distorted through Autotune introducing English lines in an otherwise Hindi song and then by the sudden wall-of-guitar power chords and synth loops. But then there are songs like Lamhe, probably my favorite song off the album with a noticeable Junkyard Groove leaning – as fresh as morning dew in spring. And then you notice the song titles – Duur, Lamhe, Yaad, Manchala, Zindagi… Nostalgia, bittersweet memories, freedom, that whole road of life theme, people looking far off into the horizon suddenly appearing very deep and pensive from all the perspective hidden behind the setting sun – an idea that was original when I was in secondary school. And yet… yet……
Credit where credit’s due, Mr. Sarmah does seem to have a good pop sensibility; whatever genres of rock or Bollywood he might delve into, he does manage to bring in several catchy moments along the way, a prime example being the chorus of Lamhe – that is the work of a talented songwriter. And as far as projects go, the whole record is quite well done, his diverse range of influences all managing to rear their head above water for however short a time – Bollywood, folk rock, nu-metal, indie pop they’re all in there.
Of course there are also points to note about the album that could go either way – him sounding like Atif Aslam for example: some will like it, some won’t. Some will probably like his whole spoken word poetry with ambient music background on the two filler tracks on the album. And then again, some won’t. But there is no denying the fact that Uddipan Sarmah works with quite a broad palette here and yet manages to craft a harmonious atmosphere through the entire album, and that probably is his biggest achievement.
I’m a bit scared trying to sum up this album, to be honest. See, for all my varied musical tastes, when songs like Don’t Stop Believing or Faithfully start playing anywhere, I secretly enjoy it – I won’t admit it anywhere in public but I do. And I don’t think I’m alone there – I think a lot of us enjoy over-the-top cheese, but in private, in a closet that no one’s allowed into. With Zindagi, Uddipan Sarmah has given us one more album for that closet, but then, also had the good sense to provide us with moments that give us the bravery to listen to it in the sun sometimes.
Other Musicians on the album: Sanjay Kumar – Guitars; Neil Simon – Bass; Partha – Drums
