Thrice as good

Find out why popular musician Sidd Coutto has taken an unusual route with an uplifting EP that contains three songs only

We had written in these pages in 2018 about how the concept of a full-length album was gradually becoming as outdated in the 21st century as that of a single-screen theatre to watch movies in. A bunch of artistes we had spoken to had told us that albums are fast becoming musical dinosaurs, with EPs and singles being the preferred launch vehicles for their songs.
 
It seems that not much has changed two years down the line, if we are to go by the plans that Sidd Coutto has for releasing his original music over the course of this year. The popular multi-instrumentalist will put out one EP on the sixth of every month in 2021, the first of which — Glow — saw the light of day one week ago.
Speaking about his reasons, Coutto tells us, “What difference does it make if I release an album? Who is going to listen to all 10 songs in it? At best, people will only listen to one or two. It’s sad, but true. That’s why it makes more sense to release EPs, instead of taking all the trouble [to launch an album] for no point at all.”

He adds that the 11 other EPs he has lined up are diverse in nature, which is an added reason to not bunch the songs up as a disjointed album. Glow, for example, is a concise three-track offering that he made keeping in mind his love for his girlfriend. It’s mainly a solo effort, with Suresh Mendonza helping out with the keyboards and bass guitar. But one of the other EPs is a full-on collaborative effort that will act as a tribute to Karan Joseph, a virtuoso keyboardist who passed away about three years ago. 

Then there’s another one lined up that will be all about rock music, as opposed to the cuddle-up-with-your-loved-one nature of Glow. What’s the point in that case of mixing and matching these different moods in one album? It’s like having a discordant meal where you start off with chilli chicken, move on to spaghetti carbonara, and end with gajar ka halwa. That’s tough for people to digest, as are albums for a 21st century population with wavering attention spans for music.

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