Music that defies categorisation: It’s the kind Bharg Kale crafts. On his 2021 debut album, Sab Chahiye—a collaboration with New Delhi rapper Rawal—the producer weaves indie-folk guitar, smooth R&B grooves, jagged trap rhythms and tub-thumping bass into a thrillingly genre-agnostic tapestry of sound. But he’s expanded his sonic palette even further in the two years since that record, producing for musicians as diverse as commercial rap stars King and Ikka, underground wordsmith Tsumyoki and indie-pop artist Rushaki. He even donned his singer-songwriter hat for 2022 single Darta Hu Mai. “Just don’t expect the conventional: That’s the Bharg sound,” he tells Apple Music. On his new album, Nikamma—which was recorded at his newly built home studio—the Uttarakhand native takes his penchant for blending genres and turns it up to 11. The title track’s high-tempo pop-punk sits surprisingly comfortably next to the acoustic guitar pop of “Akela”, while Chaar Diwaari collab “Roshni” veers from Latin-inflected pop to throat-shredding metal within the span of four minutes. It’s a fitting soundscape for an album that aims to encapsulate the many facets of Bharg: the rock and metal he grew up listening to, the hip-hop that’s his bread and butter and the “generic pop” that he loves because he’s a self-described “generic guy”. “The album is for my listeners to know who I am, what I am, and what I do and think about,” he says. “I wanted to put it out so that people could get to know me better. Because while you can see 10 seconds of [Instagram] stories and reels, my art is where I actually take a lot of time, design every sound and write every word very carefully. That’s the medium I want people to connect with me through.” Here, Bharg talks us through Nikamma, track by track. “Namaskar” “This is the first of three ‘talk points’ on the album. It’s essentially saying to people, ‘Welcome to my world.’ You will finally be able to see what I do, what Bharg is. So, it’s an introduction to that world with a little funny twist because then my mother enters and starts screaming. Which leads up to ‘Nikamma’—that’s about a fight between me and my parents.” “Nikamma” “I’ve always loved pop music and I’ve always loved punk rock and heavy metal. So when I made ‘Nikamma’ I was originally thinking of something very different. But then at one point I just screamed the chorus and started playing on my guitar really loud. As I kept working on the song, it kept moving in that direction and I was just enjoying it thoroughly. Rock bands were a pretty big thing here when I was growing up and I wanted to do something [in that space]. And, of course, the moment I finished that song, I went to Moses [Koul], who is one of the finest guitarists I know in the country. Shout-out to him for hopping onto the song and writing such a beautiful solo. He brought his own essence into the song—and that made me really happy.” “Akela” “This sounds like a love song but it’s also [aimed] at a friend, a companion and your own self. Ever since I’ve started working in this scene, I’ve realised that my friend circle has just got smaller and smaller. If you want to work towards a career in music, you have to give up on some things. And one of the things is the fact that you are sometimes alone. That’s the truth of it. This is not to say that I’m a loner. I have a beautiful family and some great friends who are always there for me. But in some things, you’re just alone. And this song is talking about that loneliness. Sometimes it can get really sad. Most of the time I’m OK but when it gets sad, it really hits hard. And that’s where the first few lines of ‘Akela’ come from—and then, of course, it transcends into relationships and all of that as well.” “Roshni” “I’d called Garv [Taneja, aka Chaar Diwaari] home to work on some new music and we just started fiddling with ideas. I had this bossa nova drum loop and I said, ‘Why don’t we use this but not make a bossa nova song with it?’ What if you take this [sample] and not make something that you’re supposed to? So, I had my small MIDI keyboard with me and I started playing some chords. These chords had a really dark tone; they’re all minor chords. And then we finally added the bassline. The moment that happened—the moment I laid down the bassline—the two of us just looked at each other. Garv was sitting behind me on the couch and we looked at each other and just started dancing. That’s when we realised that this is a good one.” “Viraam” “When Sab Chahiye, my first album with Rawal, came out, some people said that ‘the only reason they’ve got such big features is that they’re industry plants. They had all the contacts in the world, everything was done for them.’ So this is just a piss-take on that.” “Tujhme Nahi Hai” “I was actually trying to write a love song because it was such an R&B sort of sound and the chords are so dreamy. But as I kept writing, my brain pushed me in a different direction. I didn’t do it consciously, I just started penning down what I wanted to write. And because I’ve worked with so many rappers, I have different influences than most singer-songwriters. So, in this song I tried to write more like a rapper would write. I’m flexing in the first half of the song and as I keep talking about myself, I go down into this slump. “That’s what happens to me, very often within the span of a day. I’d wake up feeling the best I ever have and by the end of the day I would feel as if I’ve not done anything in my life. It’s happened a few times—and it was happening to me as I was writing this. I think this is my most vulnerable song, where I’ve extensively written about my anxieties and vulnerabilities. It’s all right there. When I play it to people, sometimes my face goes red and I feel very warped because I just feel like I’m sharing something very personal. And I hope that people don't feel like I’m just crying for no reason.” “Soochna” “This is a disclaimer for the next song, ‘Boldu Sach’, which is pretty blunt. So this is just saying, ‘Please don’t be offended.’ And if you listen to this and attach those words to yourself, then that’s on you. Don’t be too mad about it. Take a chill pill, sit down and enjoy.” “Boldu Sach” “When you start working in this industry, you idealise things and idealise people. And then you realise that not everything is so nice. It’s a very competitive world. What happens in the industry? Why is everyone crying about credits? All of those things are put out very bluntly in this song. It’s a very funny take at the end of the day—it’s just us having fun. It’s a Mac DeMarco type of song. It’s got an indie rock essence. “Yashraj is one of my closest friends in the scene and we talk very often. I had written the first half of ‘Boldu Sach’ and I was speaking to Yashraj about the discussions we’ve had where we felt like we’d been treated unfairly at different points in our lives. So I sent him the song and asked him if he wanted to do this together. He immediately called me back and said he’s writing something. He sent me his part in just a few days. Then we wrote the hook together. That’s what it is—it’s just us playing around and having a laugh at the world we’re in.” “Nazdiqiyan” “Maamuli is a duo—Lakshay Khurana and Vardaan Malhotra—and they’re two of my closest friends. They make singer-songwriter-ish indie rock with a little bit of classical and they’re both beautiful musicians. One is a master at playing keys, the other is great with his guitar and both of them are vocalists. They have a very particular sonic [quality] that I really enjoy. I had this chord progression already and I played it to them in my studio and we just started writing. “This is one song where the collective effort is immense. Because everything in that song was recorded live. And everything is out of time, everything is swinging. It was such a great experience recording that song. It has that blues and jazz feel to it but it’s not necessarily any of those [genres]. It’s also singer-songwriter-ish at the same time and there’s an alap also at one point. It’s a big song that takes its time and you have to really listen to the song and feel the harmonies that come about. It’s about an experience. It’s about an instrumental journey that I want people to have when they listen to the song.” “Beqabu” “‘Beqabu’ is the most indie pop song on the album and I love it. I really love The Strokes; they’re a really big inspiration for me. I was trying to make something along the lines of what The Strokes would make. It didn’t happen but I ended up with the instrumental for ‘Beqabu’. It was just fun to make an indie rock song again because that’s something I enjoy so much. “The lyrics are very simple. They’re about lost love and how each relationship teaches you something or the other. As you go through a relationship, you pick up some good and some bad habits. I just want to dance to that song, that’s all I want to do. I want to play my guitar and run around the stage. That’s the feeling I get whenever I listen to the song. I hope [other] people get a similar feeling when they listen to it.” “Dhanyawaad” “I don’t ever not want to be humble and I don’t ever want to be ungrateful to my fans. Because at the end of the day, if they stop listening to you, you’re done. You can have all sorts of fans who make fun of you, criticise you, even hate you for some things—and you should embrace all of that. Just be grateful for the fact that they are taking the time to listen to you and hear what you have to say. Because nobody has to do that. So, ‘Dhanyawaad’ is me thanking them for coming to this album and being able to listen to this properly.”