Sijya's Debut EP Uses Confident Minimalistic Soundscapes To Defy Traditional Moulds

Ever since the pandemic, the world’s gone through numerous changesand so has its music. More and more musicians are experimenting with the electronic genre. Today we shall look at an EP, Young Hate, by Sijya, released on 2nd December 2022, by Matthew Herbert’s Accidental Records. The EP carries a unique soundscape, different from mainstream electronic music productions of today. Sijya is an audio-visual artist personifying the gamut of fresh ideas and distinctive music artistry emerging from South Asia.

Sijya has a strong presence in the New Delhi music scene owing to her work as a trained graphic designer and having worked closely with boxout.fm. She released her first track, Have To Make My Bed in late 2021, on the renowned SUCHI Selects compilation, which drew mass attention and international support from Tom Ravenscroft (BBC Radio 6 Music), Crack Magazine, DJ MAG, Rolling Stone India and Wild City.

Young Hate does justice to the expectations born out of that early single and reveals the full potential of Sijya as an artist with a strong, self-realized creative stamp. The EP features bittersweet, downtempo tracks. Sijya’s art shows that she is an honest, introspective artist committed to originality and creating emotional impact. The music is draped in laconic, minor-key chord blooms underpinned by loping, scuffed beats, and a rounded low-end. Sijya’s affinity for a minimalistic but confident approach toward sound design is clear from the first track of the EP, Stonefruit.

With a background of visuals, each track from Sijya’s Young Hate is accompanied by its own video, all created in collaboration with Sijya’s friends—artist Urvi Vora, Improper TV animators Mehr and Aditya, upcoming filmmakers Bhushitendu and Subodh and artist Annette Jacob. Only the video for Clear, Sijya edited herself from her father’s home video archive.

The release of the EP Young Hate precedes Sijya’s first live performance where she took the prized opening slot for a breakthrough artist at India’s most renowned electronic music festival, Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan. With the tracks featured on her debut EP, it will be a chance for Sijya and her audience to see where her future journey as a musician leads to.

You can listen to the EP here.

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