Earlier last week, we brought you the news about Jwala! A newly formed independent collective which involves a bunch of self-taught, internet-raised music producers from India, they have now shared their debut compilation. Titled ‘Where There’s Smoke‘, the 9-track effort features new music from each member of the crew, and even Pulpy Shilpy aka Pune-based singer/songwriter Gowri Jayakumar.
Kicking off the proceedings is a gorgeous, downtempo cut ‘I Wasn’t Really Thinking‘ by Sparkle & Fade, the musical alias of Palash Kothari. With equally impressive cuts from Ayush. and 16-year old chrms aka Veer Kowli, listeners are made to enter more vivid soundscapes as zzz unleashes his track ‘I Never Had A PS2‘. A “self explanatory” song title as its creator Brij Dalvi suggests, it’s hard not to give it multiple listens. As we move forward, both Moebius and Pulpy Shilpy deliver two of the more dynamic pieces with ‘FACHO‘ which samples bits from Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech in The Great Dictator and ‘Kaadal Mannan‘. Entering the final half, Three Oscillators‘ ‘Dystopian Fantasy‘ directs us towards his dystopian, sci-fi-influenced world led by glitchy melodies. Apurv Agarwal aka Cowboy and Sailor Man‘s ‘Forget and Repeat‘ proves to be one of the more vocal-driven tracks which sees him shine with his impressive songwriting and charming vocal skills. As the curtain gets ready to fall on Jwala’s first compilation, Karan Kanchan decides to turn it up several notches with ‘Samurai San‘ which draws heavy influences from dubstep sounds and his love for Japanese culture.
A defining trait which makes up ‘Where There’s Smoke‘ is that with each track, listeners will be able to immerse themselves within each artist’s creative output which oozes quality and embodies the passion for their craft. A steadily paced effort right from start to finish, the compilation is an extremely well-balanced and exploratory ride which only makes us eager for what’s next to come from the budding collective!
Put your headphones on and stream the compilation in its entirety below.