Rabbi Returns

“The album was ready two years ago but I spent time looking for a suitable music label to release it. The mood in the music industry has been very anti-independent music,” he says. After releasing III at Mumbai’s Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday and in Delhi last night,the Sufi-rock-pop singer is now ready to shoot the music videos in Rishikesh.

The album stays true to Shergill’s style and soul; just like his two previous albums,this too is a reflection of issues that are close to his heart. The first track,Ganga,for instance,refers to the river as an embodiment of womanhood. “The lyrics — tu naahwe meri ganga ich / tu naahwe meri jamuna ich — tell the woman to swim in the river and reclaim freedom,” he explains. Another interesting number is Cabaret Weimar that equates the irony of the Germany of 1920s with that of India in 2012 — cultural explosion coupled with political passivity. He has collaborated with Miami-based rapper J Nu for this song.

Aadhi kranti is about how after the 2009 Mumbai attacks,there was supposed to be a momentous revolution but it fizzled out and became a half-revolution. For the track Tu hi,Shergill has got opera singer Christine Matovich on board. However,it’s the last song of the album — Eho hamara jeevna — which defines Shergill,the rebel. “The song is about how I am incapable of compliance and just have to rebel,” he adds.

In 2007,Shergill stepped into Bollywood and composed music for Jimmy Shergill-starrer Delhii Heights,but he never picked up another film project after that. “I wake up in the morning with the thought that I have to do some great live acts. Bollywood doesn’t fit into this as of now,” he says.

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