Mumbai, unplugged: This band's debut EP captures the city's vibe through a musical fusion

With their debut EP, Bombay Lights evoke through music the city’s vibe that blends classical harmonies and Western jazz rhythms

For composer Vinayak Pol, the idea of fusion was a part of life. Growing up in Sion, the drummer would listen to the classical and semi-classical works of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar alongside the Bollywood melodies of RD Burman and Lata Mangeshkar at home while also being entranced by South Indian Carnatic music wafting from the temples in Sion and Matunga. “I always wanted to use these elements and bring them together in fusion. Most fusion focuses on the Western harmonies to tie together Indian rhythms. I wanted to build on the traditional Indian sounds and classical forms through the instrumentation,” Pol shares.

This gives his band, Bombay Lights’ debut EP, Come on home, a dash of charm. The three-track compilation is a beautiful mix that made this writer conflicted. There is something at once familiar and strange about the listening experience. The six-member band features Pol (drums), Umesh Warbhuvan (percussions), Nusrat Apoorv (vocals, harmonium), Omkar Dhumal (shehnai, saxophone), Niranjan Joshi (keyboard) and Sayar Mitra (bass).

“I believe that dissonance is due to the presence of the shehnai,” Pol admits. Played by Dhumal, it adds a haunting but lovely harmony to the very jazzy title track, Come on home. “We were trying multiple sounds, but that track gave us the signature — of blending a very ethnic instrument with a futuristic harmony,” Pol reveals.

It finds another element in Quarbat, a lyric-heavy track with vocals by Nusrat Apoorv, inspired by the Eid celebrations across the city. “As the title of the band suggests, we were hoping to recreate a sound that reflects the energy of the city. Quarbat was a tribute to the qawwali, Sufi influences in music that run deep through the city,” the drummer notes. While Pol has been performing with different musicians on Bombay Lights since 2017, this line-up, he says, is finally set. It certainly makes for a good beginning.

Log on to: Come on home on Spotify; Apple Music

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