It is a surefire sign that you are in for a thrilling journey through time when a rock band, conceived in the noughties, lashes out a new record two decades later. Mumbai-based five-piece hard rock outfit Blakc released their fourth album, ‘Chemical Liaisons,’ consisting of eleven songs that track the highs and lows of love, loss, and life.
With this new record, Blakc now has a total of forty-seven tracks in their music catalog, the previous additions coming in the form of an EP in 2021 titled ‘What Is Time.’
Blakc’s current line-up features musicians Shawn Pereira (vocals), Anish Menon (guitars), Reinhardt Dias (guitars), Varun Sood (drums), and bassist Shawn Phulpagar, who also designed the artwork. The band explained ‘Chemical Liaisons’ as “inspired both by the angst and rebellion of the 90s and the modern musical sensibilities of the 21st century” via a press release.
“The album resonates with sounds from two decades of songwriting and experimentation,” conveyed the band members. “This album is straight from the heart. A total testament to the art you can create when 5 un-like minded people come together and make music to live, and not necessarily ‘make a living.'”
Diving into a few songs on the album – ‘Divine Escape’ unleashes emphatic drums and striking guitar rhythms, coupled with roaring vocals, while ‘Belief’ ozzes of that hard rock feel. Opening with a toned-down tempo is ‘Dig,’ which builds to a heavier, raw, and grittier melody cushioned by snazzy electric guitars and rumbling bass plucks.
Sitting fourth on the album is ‘Magnets,’ gently uncoiling to a strummy string section, which would seemingly trigger a flurry of cigarette lighters or more age-appropriate cell phone torches from a live crowd. A fiery guitar chord ensues, shifting the ballad to a more hard-hitting rock sound, while a ferocious guitar solo concludes the single.
‘Nothing Yet’ dishes out strong vocal performances over a throbbing alternative/hard rock tune, while the album’s concluding single ‘Paradise’ delivers an intense rock ballad boasting heavy grunge-esque rhythms, rattling bass tugs, and shredding guitars.
Except for ‘Imperium,’ which sees headshots of vocalist Shawn Pereira, all of Blakc’s new music is accompanied by a stunning visualizer along with lyrics, maintaining the theme of the ballerina gazing at a butterfly as depicted in the artwork. This dancer sports flashy neon blue wings in ‘Belief,’ is seen performing a routine on ‘Dig’ and is framed dancing in the clouds on ‘Be Mine,’ backed up by colorful silhouettes akin to the effect produced by a spinning shadow lamp.
Blakc tidily reminded fans of their might and prowess as a band, building up to the album release by dropping footage of their various exploits throughout the years on social media.
Guitarist and music producer Reinhardt Dias also took to social media to speak about the new album. He said, “Some of these songs were deep-rooted nostalgic melodies that never made it to a release from our earlier days, while some others were just waiting to sit onto this album, and then finally came a roaring new cluster of songs that invoked in us a fresh, unsmoked modern sound.”
Album Credits:
Chemical Liaisons written and performed by: Blakc
All song lyrics written by: Shawn Pereira
Album Recorded, Produced, Mixed & Mastered by: Reinhardt Dias at DefGiant Productions
Album Artwork by: Shawn Phulpagar
Find BLAKC on: Instagram | Spotify | Apple Music
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