Review: 'The Mumbai Exchange' Presents A Love Letter To 80s/90s Indian Disco-Pop

Australia's Ziggy Zeitgeist (the drummer behind Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange) and the UK's Lewis Moody have followed up 'The Napoli Exchange', their debut album as EX GENERATION, with the new LP: 'The Mumbai Exchange'. The pair set up base at Mumbai's Island City Studios and called upon homegrown musicians, notably vocalists Anuja Zokarkar and Vinay Ramadasan (who we saw at Magnetc Fields Festival 2023 as part of the festival residency Fieldlines), alongside instrumentalists like NATE08 and Sandeep Mishra. The result is a vinyl release encompassing 9 tracks that claim to capture the influence of the seaside city and its hustle and bustle.

'The Mumbai Exchange' draws inspiration from South Asian disco-pop of the 80s and 90s to inform its style. Vinay imitates a dramatic monologue of a larger-than-life character on 'Jung Chidhi Hai' to homage Bollywood and its cultural imprint while Anuja's Indian classical style of singing adds an emotional dramatic flair over house beats on tracks like 'Aao Na', 'Shringara' and 'Sochti Hun, O Mere Jaanam', which is a cover of Sister Sledge's 'Thinking Of You'. Even the act of creating an Indian version of a popular disco tune is reminiscent of the era the album takes its inspiration from along with dramatic overtly synthetic string sounds, mechanical drum breaks layered with percussion, rolling basslines, chicken-scratch rhythm guitars and zany synth voices.

Everything feels like a memory cue to aspects of an era gone by and not just its popular music, but also the kind of sounds that dominated advertisements and jingles. Yet, the execution differs just enough to make it clear that this is not emulation, but rather playful engagement and enjoyment of the borrowed palette.

Though the album aims to create a dialogue between two cultures, 'The Mumbai Exchange' essentially is two music-makers from the cultural Western world imitating South Asia from when it imitated the West. Somehow, that creates a result more charming than the more polished and now kitschly overdone fusion attempts (something the opener 'More Saiyaan' is sadly closer to).

The melodies on 'Lady of the Lake' and 'Dunes of Thar' are overly exotic, with the latter having strings that feel straight out of a dramatic Bollywood film soundtrack, while 'Bandra Hustle' has motifs from bhangra and sphagetti Western – a reflection of the varied influences found in India's old cinema including the film 'Qurbani', which catapulted the "Queen of South Asian Pop" Nazia Hassan to limelight. This almost naive playfulness is what lends a refreshing uniqueness to the work.

The fourth instrumental on the album 'Pancha Bhuta' proves that it's not all due to naivety, but also experience, that the work hits the right notes. Nothing tilted or exotic but lively, airy melodies, with their jazz-influenced syncopated rhythms and their echoes, form lush textures that are a different drum and bassline away from being a work rooted in lush folktronica. Over it, samples of musicians jamming together form an ambient, heady collage that's simply rooted by a simpler groove.

From Left to Right: Anuja Zokarkar, Sandeep Mishra, NATE08

The two cultural worlds don't necessarily fit snuggly together on the 9-track release, but have the space to be themselves and come together in contrasting tones with their own unique colours. On 'Shringara', Anuja's emotional verses about the protagonist being separated from their partner just enough to not be able to share their love are echoed in the lament of the sarangi melodies that punctuate the lines – but both are delivered over light-hearted, even comical, basslines and electric piano chords. The standout single 'Aao Na' doesn't always make its italo-disco rhythms change to the dynamic vocal phrases, but lets its beats cruise to stick with its role of making the body move while Anuja sticks to her job of adding emotionality.

Yet, the contrasts and idiosyncrasies don't cancel each other so much as lend a raw but multi-dimensional edge to the overall off-kilter result, which is ripe for providing memorable moments on the dancefloor while just about scratching any itch of 90s nostalgia.

Words: Amaan Khan