Aman Jagwani Daydreams About His Own Utopic Place In “This Place” Ft. Anubha Kaul

Indietronic jazz

Aman Jagwani gives us the perfect excuse to daydream our own personal utopia in his latest single “This Place” Ft. Anubha Kaul. Lyrically, “This Place” explores the desire to be in a better place, but not necessarily in the physical sense – Aman goes wider in defining it in emotional and psychological context as well. Coated with gauzy and buoyant layers, “This Place” is a rich infusion of jazz and indietronica that offers a dreamy soundscape to its listeners to indulge in their imagination. The sultry vocals of Anubha Kaul amplify the lushness of the piece as the slow-burning synths puts you in a laidback mode. But the highlight of the track is the flugelhorn solo by Milena Casado, which sends a wave of hair-raising frissons across your arms. “This Place” quenches your escapist desires – yet you can’t help but feel the subtle sense of longing that permeates throughout the track. But it is a comforting form of moodiness that Jagwani creates to offer a place of empathy and warmth for its listeners: 

Speaking of the release, Aman shared: “This is the title track of the record and is about the pursuit of a ‘better place’ in life, this can be an emotional, mental, physical, intellectual or any kind of place that the listener chooses to relate to. The name of this song and the album is a play on the word displace (This place phonetically sounds similar to displace) so the song is essentially telling the listener to adapt and displace from the place they’re in to their better or ideal place. There are a lot of musical references to the theme. In the drum performance, I am constantly displacing the rhythms and motifs. Then in the middle, there is a transition section that displaces a little chunk of the verse melody into a 5/8 time signature. Lastly, the song starts in one key and after the flugelhorn solo displaces to another.”

Originally from Mumbai, Aman Jagwani is only 22 but has already built his name across the Indian and Boston jazz scenes. Aman is currently attending Berklee College of Music and has won the 2018 Berklee Achievement Scholarship and 2019 Armand Zildjian Percussion Achievement. He is focusing on drum performance and electronic production, which has led to collaborations from musicians around the globe (think Brazil, France, Turkey, Israel, Italy, etc.). He released his debut album Essentially Entangled back in May 2019 and has performed across India, Europe, and America. “This Place” is the title track of his upcoming album, which will be out on May 21^st.