Takar Nabam’s new EP, Red and Yellow, addresses questions of identity 

WHEN MUSICIAN TAKAR Nabam moved back to his hometown Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh after living in Delhi for many years, he felt like an outsider. “It was quite frustrating to not know much about my culture and my people, I almost felt like a stranger,” he tells us. His latest EP, Red and Yellow, is about that experience. 

The album is named after maple leaves. “It was September 2019, and I was in Toronto. I came across this maple leaf. It looked and felt so delicate and imperfect. The colours resonated with the experiences I had gone through around that time,” he explains further. With this album, he has ventured into indie, soul and folk music, unlike his previous work, which was geared  more towards alt rock. There are five songs in the album including stand-out tracks such as Ashes and Quiet A Story. Red and Yellow features a notable collaboration — Brazilian percussionist, Mauro Refosco, who has worked with names such as David Byrne and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The production of the EP was done in SuperLegal Studio in Brooklyn, New York and that’s how Mauro was roped in. “Mauro’s inventive playing provides notable motion and lift to the music,” Takar adds.

The artiste has also experimented with a Himalayan folk instrument called Dramyin. “I came across the instrument during my visit to Tawang in 2020, and instantly fell in love with it,” he says. Up next, Takar is waiting for things to settle down and now that the vaccine is out, he hopes he can tour with the EP soon.

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