Ibtida - EP

When Faridkot singer-songwriter IP Singh suggested to multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer Rajarshi Sanyal that they call their new EP Ibtida (which means “beginning” in Urdu), his bandmate readily agreed. “There was no debate,” Sanyal tells Apple Music. “It completely made sense.” The five-song set—a long-awaited follow-up to the Hindi and Punjabi pop act’s second album, 2014’s Phir Se (their debut Ek was re-released in 2016)—is indeed a fresh start of sorts for the composer duo who some years back had decided to shift their focus to putting out individual tracks. “The biggest reason for the gap [between full-length releases] was that we felt audiences had started preferring singles,” Sanyal says. “Post [the pandemic-induced] lockdown, we feel they’re enjoying music in a more immersive way again.” Ibtida also marks the first collection Singh and Sanyal have shared since the former Delhi residents moved base to Mumbai—at different times, that is, over the past 10 years. “There was a bit of an adjustment,” Sanyal says, “getting to know people and understanding the environment.” It didn’t take long, however, for Faridkot’s core duo to flourish in India’s much-loved arts and entertainment hub. “It’s our home now,” Singh adds. “We opened a new studio in January, which is [another] beginning. This EP has made us as excited as [we were for] our debut album.” Love is the common thread that runs through the five songs on Ibtida. The duo tell Apple Music that this summed up their collective headspace at the time they started to write the music. “[Mumbai] has been amazing,” Sanyal says. “We’ve felt a lot of love here.” For Singh, romance has very much been in the air: “I got married last year so that’s been reflected in some way.” Below, they take us through the making of the EP, track by track. “Ek Samay” “It’s about the hesitation a person feels before being vulnerable to someone,” Singh says of the acoustic ballad. “That brief moment when you want to take the l