'I was innocent'

Says Euphoria frontman Palash Sen ahead of the launch of their new album Item In an exclusive interview with MiD DAY he talks about his tobereleased biography the album and the past years The last most of us can place of the Indian Hindi rock band Euphoria is easily their most loved track Maeri from the 2000 released album Phir Dhoomu00a0We did hear of another release middecade but the stir hardly made its way to our ears let alone hearts It was called Mehfuz From Left to Right Rakesh Bhardwaj Amborish Saikia Prashant Trivedi Palash Sen Vinayak Gupta Debajyoti Bhaduri and Ashwani Verma PicMohit KhannaA good five years and a lineup change later the band is set to release its new bigscale album Item on October 10 Coupled with the launch of this ninetrack album will be the release of a biography Euphoria The Story of Palash Sen by Ashish Kate a painteru00a0 and poet who replaced paint with boot polishu00a0The book we are told is a collection of conversations with the musician over a period of three yearsu00a0I found it embarrassing when three years ago someone wanted to write a book on me says Palash Sen Euphoria frontman in a telephonic interviewu00a0I am too young I would consider writing an autobiography when I am over 85 adds the singer in his mid fortiesThe new album with a title like Item is unlike Euphorias works in the past Sen tells us and it comes with a fresher perspective and soundu00a0The album is a navras of modern day India says Palash Sen What we are trying to say that semiclad women dancing in a film arent the real items everyday people are he addsWhats in storeThe album will feature nine disconnected tracks each picking up a prevalent issue religion breakups longing friendship politics terrorism vulgarity of money love and item numbers in filmsu00a0It is the first album where I am writing about issues I am in the age group now How long can you keep writing on the theme of love Id like to explore a new zone now says Senu00a0Three songs from the album titled Item C U Later and Kabootar were premiered last month as part of the bands Item World touru00a0One of them Item has been turned into a video that will be released with the albumu00a0The video directed by Bikram Mishra will feature Palash Sen and Mukti Mohan The song is dedicated to everyday women who forget their passionMukti Mohan and Palash Sen in a still fromthe video of Item PicAbel RajThe everyday woman is the real Item says Sen The video features a couple where the woman has forgotten her passion after marriage of dancingu00a0The husband encourages her to return to where her passion lies Sen says giving a sneak peek into the upcoming videoBreak timeWhen it is talk about the band that quite brought about a new generation of music through the 90s the gap does seem odd and one wonders what kept them away from the recording studios Everything has its own timeu00a0I wouldnt take out an album until I have something new to say Also things begin sounding the same when there is a lack of gap between two albums explains Sen Does the long gap work as a disadvantage and reduces recall value we wonder Sen is quick to counter by saying I dont look at it as a disadvantage Besides I believe in destiny the time is not importantTalking about changeA five year gap does more things than arouse suspicion While the band made its way out of the limelight trouble broke out and two members of the original band made their way out They were soon replaced by two youngsters Amborish Saikia and Vinayak Gupta not consciously though we were told We happened to find two talented musicians in their 20s who would gel with us that was the criteria Even though it wasnt a conscious choice they bring in a lot of fresh sound to the band altogether Their influences are very different says SenThe sound of the band at large he informs us hasnt changed Not just that the doctorturned singer seems confident about the performance of the albumu00a0Good music will work at any time Nothing changes in my sound it is something I have found after much worku00a0It is like Rahman who has made his sound why would he change it for anyone The popularity depends on the song not the sound Indians are still very tuned into melody says Senu00a0 Inspirations and confessionsAll the film music inspired me Sen says when the talk of inspirations comes up It was exactly the sort of thing I did not want to do he adds before you jump to any conclusionsu00a0The age of good world music stopped in the 80s according to him And about the music that has surrounded him in his notsoproductive years he has just one thing to say There is too much film music I would not have heard anything says SenSteering the conversation away from the sound alone he tells us there are other things that have seen the change through this timeu00a0I am in my 40s and I am looking at things very differently Earlier I would be worried about what people thoughtu00a0I am more chilled out now The last year has changed me says Sen I realized it was not easy to be a public figure I was innocent Item Universal Music Rs 150 Euphoria The Story of Palash Sen by HarperCollins Rs 350