MUMBAI: When Tech Panda and Kenzani, the contemporary producer duo from New Delhi, set out to create music in 2019, the intention to create music – that had a piece of their soul and home in it – was clear and mutual. They looked to the past to help unlock the present, creating a genre that spans diverse sounds and decades.

Listen to the album that releases on August 12 here

Their debut album Tijori was a process of going back to their roots, circling back to the idea which gave birth to their collaboration. The album is an unabashed nod to their love for Indian classical music, folk melodies, and electronic music.

Released on Groovebird Records on August 12, the 21-track album sees the duo of Rupinder Nanda and Kedar Santwani take their time, weaving their way through voice samples, textures, sounds that are meditative and melodic to reach the dancefloor wherein they unleash a frenzy of energy.

“Tijori literally is a culmination of our musical journey so far, an album that consists of bits and pieces of our growth and evolution as artists,” says Nanda. “It consists of songs from our early days as producers that we attempted to bring to fruition by reimagining them with the help of some amazing collaborations. It's hours of toil in the studio, but we wouldn't have it any other way,” adds Santwani.

For the uninitiated, Tijori is a healthy introduction to the kind of folktronica that excites Narula and Santwani. For their fans, Tijori is the equivalent of a ‘Happy Meal’, wherein each track gives a different surprise.

A compilation of 21 experiments across different spectrums of electronic music, in Tijori Indian instruments like sarangi and tabla sit front and centre alongside Hindustani classical music vocals and folk songs on Chicago house, trap, garage, and techno tracks.

“We have really tried to push the envelope with Tijori and can only hope our audience recognise it as a resurgence of folktronica sounds,” say the duo.

The first half of the album focuses on the duo’s influences from classical and folk music. The album opener ‘Atmaranjan (Intro)’ samples classical vocalist Arati Ankalikar’s tirade on classical music appreciation while ‘Pyaar Bhare’ ft Rekha Bharadwaj, who sings two lines from ghazal maestro’s Mehdi Hassan’s famous ghazal ‘Pyar Bhare Do Sharmeele Nain’ against a synth-speckled glitchy score.

Tracks like ‘Saach’ are like taking a trip down memory lane with the sound of 80s India represented via the harmonium. ‘Dulcimer’ with its lo-fi texture and santoor is a meditative piece and the following tracks ‘Nadia’, ‘Peace and Chaos’, ‘Open Earth’, ‘Hitchki’ follow in the same vein  - highlighting India’s vocal and musical traditions from across the width and breadth of the country.

‘Liquid Days’ is where the sarangi walks into a jazz club while ‘New skool’ could very well be about swaying mustard fields in an old Punjabi folk music video.

The energy shifts quite urgently henceforth, with ‘East Meets West’ featuring English grime MC Flowdan and the sounds of the ‘ek taara’. The cleverly-titled percussive, tribal house track ‘Mind Yo Sur’ is sure to find its way to dancefloors across India while ‘One Love’ is a paean to house music. The last four tracks – ‘Maahi’ and ‘Homecoming’, both of which feature young producer Aarav, would sound the most familiar to the most recent fans of Tech Panda x Kenzani. But even here the duo slip in a surprise or two.

Considered to be the flagbearers of contemporary Indian electronica, Tech Panda and Kenzani chose collaborative ‘Sada’ – featuring singer Aaromal and producer Blu Attic - to be the first track from the album.  

The blistering techno track ‘New India’ features an unexpected sample of a Lata Mangeshkar interview, which perhaps spells out the duo’s ambitions in the open. Writer Aamir Azher’s poetry and baritone sit atop a techno track in ‘Gumaan’.

The duo of Rupinder Nanda and Kedar Santwani who are behind hits like ‘Dilbar’, ‘Kulli’, ‘Indian Monsoon’, ‘Khoyo’, ‘Heer’, end their debut album like the way they started, slow and measured, with ‘Serene (outro).

Tijori released on Groovebird Records on August 12 and is now available across all streaming platforms.