Ziggy Zeitgeist and Lewis Moody release The Mumbai Exchange, Uniting with India’s Finest Musicians for a Kaleidoscopic Journey Through Sound and Culture
Ziggy Zeitgeist and Lewis Moody Continue Their Global Series with The Mumbai Exchange, Uniting with India’s Finest Musicians for a Kaleidoscopic Journey Through Sound and Culture
After the success of The Napoli Exchange, which saw the duo collaborate with Southern-Italian funk visionaries from Naples, The Mumbai Exchange marks the next chapter in EX GENERATION’s ongoing series of cross-cultural collaborations, a project that examines how the soul of a city is shaped after years of touring and absorbing the sounds of different cities. The Mumbai Exchange, along with focus track 'Bandra Hustle', will be released digitally and on vinyl Thursday 20 November, with pre-orders available now via Energy Exchange Records on Bandcamp.
A vibrant love letter to Mumbai: a city full of rhythm, colour, and life, the project has already received support from the likes of BBC6 Music, Gilles Peterson, NTS, MOJO, Bandcamp, and Somewhere Soul. Expect explosive grooves, soaring melodies of love and desire, and heady psychedelic soundscapes. The album evokes intoxicating sights and sounds inspired by one of India’s cultural heartlands, hedonistic textures and heart-wrenching emotion woven into a vivid sonic tapestry.
The Mumbai Exchange stands as both a love letter to the urban sprawl of India’s western megatropolis and a gift from its people, a community of musicians who shared their ancient practices, and locals who welcomed Moody and Zeitgeist with openness and generosity.]
“The weight of this gift isn’t something we take lightly. Over the past year, we’ve been putting everything into shaping an album that stands as a testament to cultural sharing - honouring the lineage of Indian music while embracing the clash of Western traditions we’ve grown up in. Somewhere in that middle ground, we’ve found something fresh, exciting, and deeply human.” - Lewis Moody & Ziggy Zeitgeist, EX GENERATION
Working out of Island City Studios in Khar West, Mumbai, Moody and Zeitgeist brought together some of India’s most accomplished musicians and wordsmiths, including award-winning vocalists Vinay Sugatha Ramadasan and Anuja Zokarkar. The pair bring lyrical depth informed by millennia of North-Indian classical poetry and melody, where metaphor and imagery intertwine with EX GENERATION’s unapologetic rhythm and production style to form something profound and complex, yet accessible and innate in the way it confronts the listener.
Each track on The Mumbai Exchange unfolds as a dialogue between cultures and traditions. The record opens with' More Saiyaan', where psychedelic guitar and vocalist Anuja Zokarkar’s aalaap (classical improvisation) explore the taboo of love, immediately placing the listener in another time and place - a secret, perhaps forbidden, back alley in a faraway eastern realm - before giving way to 'Aao Naa', a late-80s-inspired house groover that reimagines Bollywood’s bold reinterpretations of Western pop, offset against 90s house inspired organ-bass. The influence of Indian film music flows through 'Jung Chidi Hai', a sweeping cinematic epic led by Vinay Sugatha Ramadasan, while 'Pancha Bhuta' draws on the New Age crossovers of the 90s and 00s, blending field recordings from the band’s time in India with cyclical melodies and minimal grooves.
'Shringara' revisits More Saiyyan’s theme of divine love through Bollywood disco hues, sung in the ancient Braj Bhasha dialect of Hindi, while 'Bandra Hustle' erupts in joyous Bhangra rhythms, a nod to Mumbai’s street celebrations. The sarangi-led 'Lady of the Lake' dives into psych-rock terrain, and 'Dunes of Thar' conjures the cinematic vastness of Rajasthan’s desert landscape. The journey concludes with 'Sochti Hun, O Mere Jaanam' - a Hindi reimagining of Sister Sledge’s 'Thinking of You', complete with tabla, paying homage to Bollywood’s long-standing tradition of cross-continental reinterpretation and closing The Mumbai Exchange in the true spirit of cultural exchange.
SIDE A
A1. More Sayiaan
A2. Aoo Naa
A3. Jung Chidi Hai
A4. Pancha Bhuta (The Five Elements)
SIDE B
B1. Shringara
B2. Bandra Hustle
B3. Lady of the Lake
B4. Dunes of Thar
B5. Sochti Hun, O Mere Jaanam (Thinking of You)
Credits:
Produced by Ziggy Zeitgeist and Lewis MoodyRecorded at Island City Studios, Mumbai
Engineered by Aria Nanji
Mixed by Lewis Moody
Tape transfer by Tim Tabellion
Mastered by Moomin Studios Berlin
EX GENERATION:
Lewis Moody - keys, programming, arranging
Ziggy Zeitgeist - drums, programming, arranging
The Mumbai Exchange features:
Prasad Vilas Padhye - Tablas
Vinay Sugatha Ramadasan - Vocals
Anuja Zokarkar - Vocals
Bhaskar Das - Bansuri Flute
Sandeep Mishra - Sarangi
Nathan Thomas aka Nate08 - Guitar
Matthew Hayes - Bass
Harmeet Singh Dhani - Dhol
Valeria Pozzo - Violin, Viola
Front cover photograph: Jessica Garfield
Portraits and inner sleeve photography: Lewis Mood