Losing wait

Lifafa | Pic/Zeashan Ashraf

It was in October last year that Suryakant Sawhney, vocalist of seminal indie act Peter Cat Recording Co, announced that he was about to launch his next album as Lifafa, his solo avatar. Fans waited with bated breath. But then they kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It was almost as if the album was the promise of a new dawn that would never arrive. But the sun finally rose, so to speak, on May 21 when Sawhney dropped Superpower 2020 out of the blue with no prior intimation.

"Life got in the way," the Delhi-based musician tells us about the delay, adding, "My wife and I shifted houses and there were many things going on from the personal point of view." Yet, the songs kept marinating in his ears because, as Sawhney explains, "It's impossible for them to stop ringing; you are liberated only after the music leaves."

There is thus a sense of freedom he must be feeling right now. The record itself is an evidently political body of work. You only have to look at some of the song names - Mann ki baat, Acche din, and Mandir - to understand how the musician is employing his craft to take digs at the current dispensation. But it isn't a direct attack. Instead, the 34-year-old's barbs are veiled with metaphors and sarcasm. Mann ki baat seems like an out-and-out love song, for example. Yet, you constantly get a sense that it's not the affection that a boy has for a girl, but the devotion that an ultra-nationalist has towards the man at the top.

Even the music is devoid of any anger or disgruntlement. The first five tracks have a sense of peacefulness pervading through them, which is ironic given our turbulent times. It's only with Irradon, the sixth track, that Sawhney raises the tempo somewhat, introducing catchy disco beats that might make Bappi Lahiri take off his sunglasses and raise his eyebrows in appreciation. Otherwise, the album retains the smirk it has about the powers that be. So yes, it was indeed a long time coming.

But given how fundamental freedom of speech is in a democratic system, it's also a case of better late than never.

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