Aerogramme: Hits the right spot

The albums most radio friendly track,The border line is a jump up.

Goldspot’s Siddhartha Khosla has always been about making music on his personal experiences,especially those exploring his American-Indian identity. But there hasnt been an album quite as personal as his latest work,Aerogramme. The 11-track album reminisces the time his parents landed on American shores with just eight dollars in their pockets,and struggled for a couple of years to make ends meet.

Khosla employs a lot of the same motifs that made him famous on Tally of the Yes Men and And the Elephant is Dancing. The instantly recognisable harmonium is first brought out on Abyss,a track which sounds a lot like a Rewind reprise,but arranged more interestingly. Also,his droning voice is not over done,and Khosla shows much more range in his vocals on this album.

One of the most touching songs on it is Evergreen tapes. Khoslas parents sheltered him from the hardships they faced in America by keeping him at his grandparents house in India for a couple of years. The song talks about how his mother had to send tapes to India to communicate with him,because they could not afford any other form of communication. A Vampire weekend-esque drumbeat kickstarts the track,but its the direct and emotional lyrics (so dont worry /even though you were oceans and continents away/ I heard evergreen hits,lullabys and everything you had to say) that makes it the best song on the album. The album is inspired from the letters his dad wrote on napkins but didnt have the money to post them. The song New haven green talks about how Khosla stumbled on these letters much later in life. The album cover,designed like an Air Express envelope is inspired by this anecdote.

Not everything is about the struggle though. The albums most radio friendly track,The border line is a jump up and a dance indie tune that introduces you to his mixed identity,and on Monkey on the roof,Khosla croons about his aunts fight with a simian. Unfortunately,like many albums today,Aerogramme loses steam towards the end but its still worth a listen.

So dont worry/ even though you were oceans and continents away/ I heard evergreen hits,lullabys and everything you had to say.

If time could be built with the drop of a tear/ Youd see it it rained in our house all year.

All the tapes weve taped over all our hopes and our fears

A tide brought me here.

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