Detective Byomkesh Bakshy Music Review

"Dibakar- the musical detective"

Music: Madboy/Mink, Blek, Sneha Khanwalkar, Peter Cat Recording Co., Mode.AKA, Joint Family, IJA

Ratings: * * * ½ (3.5 out of 5)

Set in period Kolkata, one would expect a kind of album that would romanticize the musical heritage of that era. Surprisingly, what we get is an upbeat and modern compilation album of tracks from various indie music projects which is a growing culture in metro cities.

1. Calcutta Kiss

Saba Azad and Imaad Shah’s Electro Cabaret - Nu Disco project Madboy/Mink gets to adapt their ‘Taste Your Kiss’ interestingly as Calcutta Kiss with the main hook in English retained. The Hindi part has a colorful storytelling to it which is a heady mix to its jazzy tune.

2. Bach Ke Bakshy

Sneha Khanwalkar puts an unconventional line-up of singers (Gowri Jayakumar, Big Deal, Thomson Andrews, Trevor, Smokey The Ghosht, Craz Professa) in this unconventional song that transcends from a hip-hop/rap to a haunting score. Peppered with dialogues that are tuned with the rap part, this one grows on you. 

3. Byomkesh In Love

Blek adapts their alternative club number Fog + Strobe for Byomkesh In Love in which they evocatively incorporate Usri Bannerjee to add more soul to the bluesy tune by letting her render a thumri (Jao Jao by ShobhaGurtu) amidst all the electronic and that terrific bass. This is certainly the most captivating part and will alone compel you to play in loop.

4. Jaanam

Delhi based psychedelic rock band Peter Cat Recording Co. puts effort to rewrite their Pariquel song from the album Sinema as Jaanam which sounds like it was originally composed for a Bollywood retro film. To stay true to its waltzy arrangement, one could have expected a near-perfect vocal, but the flawed one here (Suryakant Sawhney) is just adding more to the indie imagination. 

5. Chase In Chinatown

Bengaluru based electronica duo Mode.AKA fuses two of their tracks ‘Chick.n’ and ‘Andov.a’ to put up this racy track. The lyrics and singing is more of metal which makes the song feel like a wannabe ragey rock entrapped in an electronic cage. Though repetitive, its groove will make sure you keep coming back to it. 

6. Life’s A Bitch

Delhi metal band Joint Family’s Life’s A Bitch appears in the album verbatim. The song captures you right from the start with the thrilling guitars coupled with excellent drumming and Akshay De lets all the pain and anger out in his overpowering growling. I am more excited to see how is this song used in the film.

7. Yang Guang Lives

Yang Guang Lives by IJA is trippy in its own way but doesn’t hold your attention till the end. It might work as a background score for the film.

So, Detective Bannerjee discovers little-heard songs from the corners of the country, re-imagines them and puts together as a collective album for a film. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy’s soundtrack is the most unusual and non-mainstream album ever produced by YRF. But you weren’t expecting anything less from Dibakar, were you?

(Blek's Fog + Strobe and PCRC's Pariquel link via @MusicAloud's review)