We review the first ever Indian album dedicated to LGBTQI issues, composed by a gay performer
The queer thing about Queerism — the first Indian album tackling LGBTQI issues, released last week — is how unpredictable the musical nature of each song is. Listening to it is like being blindfolded in a maze so that you don’t know where the next turn lies. At one point, you bump into a wall of disco. At another, you brush against hip-hop and rap. And then you suddenly find yourself massaging your head with some Indian classical music, after you’ve banged into thumping EDM.
It’s thus clear that Pragya Pallavi, the musician behind the record, is trying to subvert the concept of genres. But this effort at breaking free of musical boxes is also aligned with the idea of breaking free of regressive societal structures. Pallavi identifies as lesbian. There are in fact multiple points in Queerism where she declares her identity. In Lingering Wine, she sings, “I’m getting high on the scent of my girl.” In We Are LGBTQI, she screams, “We are out and proud/ Let’s sing it loud.” Even some of the song names themselves, such as Girls You Rule and Queer it Up, act as an unabashed assertion of rights.
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So, it’s an important attempt, that’s for sure. But, there are certain glitches that can’t be ignored. There are points when Pallavi does too much with her voice when she should have just let the instruments do the talking. And the rhythmic structure of the rap section is as jarring as sitting inside a tin hut on a sunny day and suddenly hearing the pitter patter of raindrops. That being said, the musicality of the album is so impressive that the funk parts, especially, transport the listener to a gay club in New York from the early ’80s. Pallavi’s voice, too, has a smoky richness and the vastness of her range comes from her training in Hindustani classical. This helps in overriding Queerism’s weak points and underlining its core message — that this is the 21st century, and there’s no need to keep skeletons in the closet.
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