Sid Sriram continues to broaden his — and his listeners' — horizons on his second English-language album Sidharth. The India-born, California-based singer-songwriter delicately toes the line between his native Carnatic music and North American pop on the boundary-pushing follow-up to his viral Tiny Desk concert.
He allows the Carnatic influence to remain consistently apparent throughout the 13-song project despite straying from the Tamil and Telugu languages that his music typically employs. That surgical blend of genres is achieved by coaxing slow, elongated vibratos, wordless vocalizations and string-heavy instrumentals to the forefront of tracks like "Dear Sahana," "Do The Dance" and "Blue Spaces," while the frantic drum beats and fuzzy synths on songs like "The Hard Way," "Friendly Fire" and "Stance" catapult the album nearer modern pop than anything else he's done in his career.
At the root of it all though, is Sriram wielding his voice in a distinctly Carnatic fashion, and, in doing so, displaying an indignant refusal to conform to the mainstream pop market — and that's what makes Sidharth so special.
(Def Jam/Universal)He allows the Carnatic influence to remain consistently apparent throughout the 13-song project despite straying from the Tamil and Telugu languages that his music typically employs. That surgical blend of genres is achieved by coaxing slow, elongated vibratos, wordless vocalizations and string-heavy instrumentals to the forefront of tracks like "Dear Sahana," "Do The Dance" and "Blue Spaces," while the frantic drum beats and fuzzy synths on songs like "The Hard Way," "Friendly Fire" and "Stance" catapult the album nearer modern pop than anything else he's done in his career.
At the root of it all though, is Sriram wielding his voice in a distinctly Carnatic fashion, and, in doing so, displaying an indignant refusal to conform to the mainstream pop market — and that's what makes Sidharth so special.