baltaj – Tumbi

• East vs West
• Flamboyant Indian lead over the drop
• Soulful, looped-over vocal snippet

After my colleague stated that he was used to eastern sounds such as these, and it would be beneficial if I gave it a try instead, I loved how baltaj crafted ethnic sounds in a Tech House structure! Mixing them with a swaggery vocal with a soulful hype to it, “Tumbi” turned out as an intriguingly vibrant production, basing its personality on the variety of cultural sounds blending together.

baltaj, whose alias is a play of words at the grandiose monument of the Taj Mahal, has started his endeavor of receding the gap between traditional Indian/Arabic sounds in modern dance music. His prior and debut release, “Fantasy Forever”, sits with a sizeable sixty thousand plays on Spotify alone. This record is a stark contrast to what followed afterward in his discography, all dreamy and containing a melancholic, distant Lo-Fi grit in a deep and minimal house-type record.

Although there’s not much information discerning the artist since his career is at a nascent stage; it has plenty of potential even at commencement. Take “Tumbi” into consideration. The production, in terms of the essentials and technicalities, doesn’t succumb to incompetence or lacking dedication but is rather expertly executed. As said in the start, there’s a soulful Diva House-inspired vocal loop coming into play, as the short breakdown is broken soon after by the drop. Now, this is where the real deal happens. The instantly recognizable Indian lead riff pounces into action. Without barring its flashy and colorful mood, the bassline and electro synth (from the breakdown before) help create the frenzy alongside the vocal, which gets manipulated and warped in all the fun ways to project a vivacious cadence.

All of this in turn makes me very curious as to what his next moves will be, because baltaj’s sonic signature has an unnatural but entertaining strategy of arraying different components together, causing unpredictable results for the crowd. For now, enjoy the dynamism and the multiculturalism in the midsts of “Tumbi”!

You can listen to “Tumbi” here:

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