- A New Delhi-based pioneer of "rocktronica" revisits his early sound.
- Nine years ago, the New Delhi-based artist Dualist Inquiry introduced a bold new sound. A guitar player who'd learned electronic music production, he unleashed so-called "rocktronica" on the South Asian subcontinent. A decade ago, when rock was an alternative mainstay in India, he managed to bring certain elements—slick guitar licks, reverb-drenched riffs—to the dance floor. Seeing a guitar in the club was far from normal at the time, but he slotted it in with ease. His music channeled teenage angst through fuzzy guitar basslines, ushering in a new dance floor sound.
Dualist Inquiry's new EP, Life Forms, sounds a lot like his work from earlier in the decade. He's still fusing guitar licks and synth melodies, though there are hints of trap in "Delta Wave," a slow-burning track laced with busy percussion. He will always be remembered as a pioneering producer whose work opened the floodgates for leftfield music on the South Asian subcontinent. But ever since then, his music has moved in circles. Life Forms sounds like a throwback. He honed this sound a decade ago, and refuses to let go. We may never find out what else he's capable of.
Tracklist01. Life Forms
02. Delta Wave
03. Echo Park
04. Life Forms (Club Edit)