David Britto
Nov 24, 2020
Mumbai producer Cosmic Grooves. Photo: Shridhar Selvaraj
Mumbai producer Pranay Bakshi aka Cosmic Grooves tells us that while growing up he had access to the family computer that contained his metalhead father’s massive music collection. He says, “This was my introduction to Pink Floyd and Metallica and everything.” Through the years, he fancied hip-hop and funk, influences that have crept into his lo-fi approach to making music. With two cohesive bodies of work already to his name, 2018’s Delusion and last year’s Sunset at Glenary’s, the artist is now out with his latest eight-track album 5am Metamorphosis.
Bakshi tells us that his newest effort was inspired by the state of mind he often experiences once the sun sets. While each track represents a particular point during the night, he says, “The strategic progression of the songs in the album is placed to encapsulate the darkness that takes over the mind with each passing hour.”
The record opens with the dreamy acoustic guitar-led “Midnight Monologue” that kicks off the deep dive into the mind. The downtempo “Memory Lane” is about reminiscing while the melodic guitar offering “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” the somber “Ephemeral” and avant-garde “Decent” follow a similar narrative. Bakshi says, “When things begin to get progressively worse in my mind. The realizations metamorphosize to anxiety and the mind begins to enter into the darkest part of the endless pit.”
According to the producer, the eerie “Auditory Moon Collapse” is the point of being absolutely consumed with his thoughts. He says, “This is the pivotal point where I am convinced that life is utterly pointless, and everything that we do ultimately amounts to nothing since we’re all only inching closer to our deaths.” The penultimate song is the optimistic title track that also features Bakshi’s go-to collaborator Mumbai/Sikkim singer-songwriter Anoushka Maskey. The record closes with the jangly acoustic guitar and jazz piano track “We’ll Meet Again” and brings on board Maskey for more crooning. Bakshi says, “This track can be interpreted as both a message to my listeners, telling them that we are soon to meet again; or from the perspective of my nihilism saying that while it’s goodbye, for now, we will meet again.”
The entire record was tracked at Bakshi’s home studio as well as mixed and mastered by him. Currently, he’s focusing on a follow-up folk-rock album titled A New, Clear Winter, which will explore the realms of modern history. The producer says, “Anoushka and I will continue to work together to create music that tells a story and has substance. The focus remains to make some sort of a difference, small or big, with our music.”
Watch the music video for the title track above and stream ‘5am Metamorphosis’ below on Spotify and on other platforms.
