Hyderabad's Sidharth Bendi talks about his EP Lost and upcoming multi-city tour

Exactly two years after the release of his first record, One In A Million, Sidharth Bendi launched his second EP — Lost. While the former was more cheerful, with this recently released, Sidharth has chosen to experiment with genres, while opting for a more truthful storytelling method.

What truly makes him stand out is his approach towards making music, which he admits is different with each project. Interestingly, he doesn’t like to restrict himself by categorising his sound under one genre. “When I released One In A Million, I was 18. Although most of the songs were written around the same time, I gave it time and reworked on a couple of them as I went about exploring and understanding music better,” he shares. 

When you listen to the second EP, you notice that Sidharth seems more confident as he takes this introspective method. The first track on the latest record — Phases — is a fingerstyle guitar instrumental, which perfectly sets the mood for the rest of the tracks. A first for the singer-songwriter, with this one, he aims to signify the process of music-making. While the lyrics and base composition was done by Sidharth himself, he got on board with Akhil Kodamanchili, who produced and also gave the EP a new twist. “In the last two years, my house shows and gigs have given me exposure and perspective towards my sound and other genres. When Akhil joined me, I let his influences and creative ideas flow, which gave Lost a new outlook,” he adds. 

In the exquisite title track, Lost, it is truly the electronic arrangements that grab your attention, apart from the introspective lyrics. While Your Man — a continuation of Don’t Mind It (from the first EP) is one of the playful tracks, Sidharth takes an inward-looking approach in How Long?, where he questions his thoughts, accompanied by delicate guitar plucking. The last track Don’t Let It Go was initially written as a mellow and heartwarming song, but the one in the EP is just the opposite. “Akhil thought this one can work better with more upbeat and energetic tunes. So we went ahead with that. However, I’m planning on releasing an original acoustic version soon,” he says. Sidharth is now working on a 10-city India tour starting mid-Oct to mid- November, followed by a Hyderabad launch for his upcoming EP.

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