Orange gets desi hue

Bass guitarist Perminder Singh Rawat of Orange Street showed he has the pluck it takes to get the crowd grooving.

Orange Street have named their new album Dharma, and with a reason too. “The song questions the political and social environment we live in that’s threatened by religious fanaticism,” says vocalist Anirban Chakraborty as he sung a number of the album (on RSJ Records) at the launch at the British Council on Tuesday.

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As they broke into the second song, it was clear that the band has finally decided to inculcate desi sounds. Classical vocalist Imran Khan’s Hindustani vocals complemented the groovy guitar notes and drummer Ashwin Andrews’ beats, and were spiced up by Parveen Sethi’s dholak. The dholak and the dhol beats certainly caught the audience by surprise, but a pleasant one.

Orange Street have picked up good musicians from two of Delhi’s talented bands, Anant Bhatt and Ashwin Andrews are from Friday the 13th and Perminder Singh Rawat is from Envision. The band is scheduled to play at five major music festivals in Sweden, Norway, Estonia and the UK in July.

The evening was well attended and even had people sitting on the floor for the band’s gig. Members of other Delhi bands like Parikrama, Them Clones and MenWhoPause also turned out to wish Orange Street good luck.