THE POSITIVE VIBES OF SOULMATE
FOR THE FIRST TIME, SOULMATE HAS BEEN EXPLICITLY POLITICAL IN THEIR MUSIC
—Amit Gurbaxani
The worst thing you can say about Soulmate’s albums is that they are few and far between. In the 17 years of their existence, India’s bestknown—and arguably the best—blues act has put out just four records. The newest, Give Love, was unveiled on August 1, to coincide with International Blues Music Day. There were several reasons for the sixyear-long gap, says guitarist-composer Rudy Wallang whose searing solos are immaculately matched by singer-songwriter Tipriti ‘Tips’ Kharbangar’s intense vocals in the Shillong-based duo’s releases and performances. They needed the time to earn back the money they spent on making 2014’s Ten Stories Up at Mumbai’s Yash Raj Films Studios, tour extensively, and test and perfect fresh tunes on their road. The new album, which was recorded at Wallang’s home studio, The Hole in the Wall, combines the energy of their live sets with the gleam of polished production, he says. While Give Love fits seamlessly with the rest of Soulmate’s discography—their LPs are impressively devoid of any fillers—it differs from its predecessors in a couple of ways. After a decade of enlisting some of the country’s finest session musicians, for the first time, they laid down the songs with the same rhythm section that performs at the pair’s gigs, Wallang’s sons, bassist Leon and drummer Vincent. It’s also the first time the band has been explicitly political. The tracks ‘Hole in Your Soul’ and ‘Troubled Times’ address the avariciousness of bureaucrats and businessmen; the former was written about the inhumane practice of rat-hole mining in their home state of Meghalaya, which, say activists, has continued in spite of an official ban. Until now, Soulmate had consciously stayed away from talking about current affairs to avoid, as Wallang puts it, “becoming preachy”. “But our so-called leaders are messing up big time and doing it blatantly, so how long can we keep quiet?” he adds.
Despite its title, Give Love is short on ballads such as ‘The Price’ and ‘A Cup of Tea’— standout cuts that featured respectively on their 2004 debut Shillong and 2009 sophomore effort Moving On. The decision to amp things up was a considered choice. “We have reached a point where we understand the dynamics of our music,” says Kharbangar. “People understand and connect with us more when we play raw, rockier tunes, [so for] this album [we said] let’s forget writing songs that are too mellow.”
For their legions of fans, the new album is, to borrow a line from closing track ‘Your Love’, “like the soothing rain on a steamy day”. Wallang originally planned to call their fourth collection “Soulmate Sings the Blues” until his brother suggested they christen it after the sing-along lead single ‘Give Love’, the reap-what-you-sow message of which, they felt, could spread some positivity among all those grappling with the state of the world right now.
“People are very frustrated [because] they’re not able to do what they want and there’s nothing happening anywhere,” says Kharbangar. “Everything builds up. You get anxiety, anger, depression. Most of the time on social media, people are just hating on each other. We named this album Give Love so that we can inspire people to love. When you love someone, it naturally comes back.”