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Welcome to your winter arc. This final trimester is kinda special. It's where you're trying to get into shape while also indulging in the festival feasts that we wait all year for. It is the general human tendency to swing one way too hard; to maintain the calorie deficit and miss out on the treats or decide to pig out and give up on the workout entirely. I know I've been having a hard time choosing between the two.
But maybe we don't have to. We contain multitudes. We're the ones who can turn it up after sobbing about our exes just because our Spotify is on random play. We got this. Whether it's lifestyle choices or genres, there is a reviving power in not being limited to one box.
Homegrown Handpicked is our monthly playlist where we bring you the freshest music from across the country. And this month, our curation is as eclectic as it gets to honour both of the wolves inside you. Check it out below.
Brought to life by Yelhomie from Manipur and Moko Koza from Nagaland, the song’s gritty, desi-infused boom-bap beat underscores the rappers' verses, which are rooted in authenticity and a deep sense of identity. Yelhomie touches on the turmoil in Manipur, revealing how the broken system has impacted the lives of many youths, while Moko adds his own story, portraying the strength and determination of those from the region. Produced by Yugi from Mizoram and engineered by sKar of Naava records, the track comes straight from the Northeastern hip-hop music scene.
Known for their folk metal sound, Bloodywood pays a nu-metal homage to their home city. The high-energy track encapsulates Delhi's extremes and was released alongside an absolutely face-melting music video. Videographer Kushagra Nautiyal along with guitarist-producer Karan Katiyar capture Delhi’s popular markets and iconic landmarks with cameos from local music heroes. Both musically and visually, the track is a love letter to Delhi and metal.
next december comes from Pune-based Ren's debut EP, The Fear Of Falling In Love / The Fear Of Falling Apart. With a sound that lies somewhere between alt-rock, pop-punk, and hyper-pop, the EP captures the emotional weight of losing a piece of your heart. next december, the EP’s pop-punk opening track, pays homage to the sound sculpted by bands like Jimmy Eat World, Fallout Boy, and Neck Deep and echoes an almost hopeful yearning for permanence. It’s an optimistic prologue anchored by Brendon’s soaring vocals, one that sets the stage for a story that almost always ends in tragedy.
Inspired by bands like The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, The Sandcats blend 2000s garage rock, post-punk, and modern pop to create music that offers an exploration of the human condition. On their latest track, the band dives into the struggles of navigating a world shaped by capitalism — where gentrified buildings, automated routines, and curated realities control everything. The lyrics paint a picture of the friction between personal truths and the overwhelming pressures of urban life.
Mumbai-based artist, Janisht Joshi explores the fear of vulnerability and the reluctance to truly feel one's emotions on his latest track, Nahi. Influenced by indie-rock, the track encapsulates a battle between self-preservation and emotional connection, embodying the struggle of saying 'no' to feelings that remain too overwhelming to face. It also takes inspiration from the poetry of Sahir Ludianvi, whose works often depicted the melancholic realities of love and life. A shift from his earlier work, the artist calls Nahi 'his first real rock song'.
Dizlaw is an emerging artist known for his ability to bring poetic storytelling to hip-hop. On his new bedroom pop track, Dizlaw echoes the insecurities of his generation in an age where artists have to constantly produce work to remain relevant. Through his own self-awareness, he captures the sense of dread younger generations confront in trying to find themselves. The endless loop of fear and self-doubt that renders evern the most passionate artists frozen shines through in Churau Nazar.
Kimthebeloved, Tienas, and DHP deliver a fierce, no-nonsense anthem fueled by raw, unfiltered lyricism on their latest track. Busting any myths about what it is to actually pursue greatness, the rappers talk about not succumbing to the superficial pressures of fame or success, reminding us that real success is a steady grind and not a race for instant rewards. Contrasting humility and resilience with a social critique of elitism, the track represents the underground scene in an equally high-octane music video.
Right on time with the Halloween season Natural Intimacy is one of 4 post-punk/goth-rock tracks that form the EP Gothwave Bounce Vol 1. Coming from Mumbai-based artist Midnight Agenda, the EP brings a harsh and high-energy approach to its composition, along with satirical and emo-influenced lyrics that reflect societal misfortunes and the need for self-solicitation. Midnight Agenda blends his signature synthwave sound on this punchy new track through both production and vocals, evoking the alternative underbelly of the 80s.
New Delhi-based electronica producer and singer Alboe aka A Little Bit Of Everything found inspiration for his new album, Enroute 24, in the most unlikely of places: in something that actor Shah Rukh Khan said about his stardom. The nine-track album is centred around a fictional story of hyper fame, with each composition denoting the different stages involved in achieving the unthinkable. Featuring instruments like the tabla, harmonium and santoor combined with house music, breakbeats, and percussive melodies, Alboe infuses Indian classical sounds with dance music. Imarat in particular, recreates an Indian version of Leonard Cohen's Nevermind, combining it with the song, Kabir Ke Dohe.
A concept album centred around intersectional feminism, His name is? presents itself as something given from women to men, eliminating the emotional burden of explaining patriarchal oppression that often falls on women. Touching upon the themes of domestic violence, body shaming, honour killing, and other misogynistic ills, the album has been constructed from Smokey the Ghost's voice recordings with women in his life across the last 10 years. The third track on the album, My Home, is a triple entendre that captures the essence of a long-distance relationship between a person and the cities of Bangalore and Shillong, juxtaposed alongside the narrative of a live-in relationship between two people.
