Kishore Krishna is doing for Chennai what The Melvins did for the Washington indie scene. The Melvins were at the centre of a tight-knit group of musicians and hangers-on who went on to take the world by storm. In much the same way, Krishna is the central figure in Chennai’s emerging alternative singer-songwriter scene. Not only has he put out some of the most exciting music we’ve heard all year, he’s also been a strong influence on a number of his contemporaries. One of his protégés is 19-year–old multi-instrumentalist Harsha Iyer.
Harsha Iyer approaches music with a determination that belies his young age. He dropped out of school at 18 to focus on his music, a ballsy move in a country where indie musicians have only recently started to break even. He recently released his debut album Curious Toys, which is a solo effort. Harsha wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and recorded, mixed and mastered the record himself, with some help from his ‘mentor’ Kishore. Not bad for a kid who isn’t even old enough to drink yet (25, Maharashtra? Really?!)
Curious Toys is like a night-time drive down the back roads of the indie pop countryside. Harsha draws his influences from the darker regions of pop music, especially post-punk and power pop. The dense instrumentation merges his kitsch-pop sensibilities with a penchant for catchy melodies and angular fuzz-driven guitar sounds. You can hear references to everything from Television and The Kinks, to Radiohead and Nick Cave. Harsha’s voice switches between punk rock snarls and alt rock crooning with great ease, and has a strong emotive quality that brings a lot of conviction to the music. He might want to keep a tighter leash on that accent though. It distracts and can be a bit of a bummer.
Album opener ‘I Find You Boring’ sounds like a post-punk single from the late ’70s, with jangling guitars, cheeky trumpet melodies and Harsha’s voice dripping with Johnny Rotten’s sneering condescension as he puts down a girl trying to catch his attention – “You can tell me how you own and play Kurt Cobain’s guitar [...] but but but I find you boring.”
Radio-friendly ‘Overcautious’ is a paranoid and chaotic ode to wary pedestrians. The track starts off with plaintive violins and soft crooning harmonies, but it isn’t long before Harsha stomps on the gas. About halfway through, he breaks into claustrophobia-inducing guitar riffs and a panicked howl that is highly reminiscent of Thom Yorke at his most paranoid.
Harsha takes his foot off the pedal on ‘Not Yet Dead’, a slow-burn post-punk ballad that deals with death, hope and resurrection. “It’s a wonderful world, if you can see it,” he croons, as the music slowly disintegrates into a wall of feedback and noise (reminding me of The Disintegration Loops). His love for abrasive sounds is also evident on ‘Fear’, a sinister Nick Cave-esque blues song buried under layers of feedback and electronica loops.
Harsha’s lyrics are personal and insightful, even if they occasionally need some polish. He has a tendency to be too blunt, lacking the guile and wiles that a good songwriter uses to dress up his lyrical ideas. This is only his debut of course, and I’m sure he’ll pick up these tricks as he goes along.
Curious Toys is an album bursting with experimentation and original ideas. Despite the occasional misstep, it is fresh and exciting, full of confidence and vitality. The warm and fuzzy production, the excellent instrumentation, a voice packed with emotion and a great ear for playful melodies all combine to make this an excellent debut. Harsha’s already working on the follow-up, due to be released sometime in 2012. Keep an eye on this one; he’s definitely headed for stardom.
Indiecision: B
Twitter
Facebook