Album Reviews "Building up and exploding are some of the defining, characteristic attributes of post-rock, and we see that happening on every track here. However, Kaav does this without becoming atmospheric or airy, their universal appeal is built around their simplicity of sound. Their music is driven by unpretentious riffs splayed out over unhurried tracks. Baiju Dharmajan’s (Motherjane) brilliant production ensures this islandmade EP is easily on par with the like of tracks like Oceansize – ‘I Am The Morning’. This band has an ingrown sense of heritage, and their music’s grown straight out of it without them having to make a conscious effort, which distinguishes them from bands who unnecessarily try to force in “Indian elements”. There’s something maternally calming about the beginning of the nine-minute final track ‘Kettukatha’ (which means ‘made up story’) laden with sparkling harmonics. And then without you realizing, it thunderously builds up and breaks into a sample of Malayalam schoolchildren (talking about a fight breaking out in the High Court, with lawyers and the prime suspect getting hurt, possibly quoting from a newspaper article) over jazzy drum rhythms, crashes to a halt and carries that riff into a Porcupine Tree-esque distorted, overdriven segment. The tranquil segments are so reminiscent of ‘If These Trees Could Talk‘, just with added local flavor. The second track ‘Psyche’ starts with a building sonic seascape which bursts and collapses into a display of primal drums. True to prog rock fashion, strummed layers are added on halfway through and make for a pretty decent listen. The album opens with the track ‘Daya’ (which was featured by Coldplay), and after that video you can’t really help but visually associate it with time lapses of sand running through your fingers, stop motion shots of serenely stretching shorelines, and moments full of lens flare on the beach. With all the energy of Porcupine Tree on ‘Wedding Nails’, the catchy song powers through and keeps listeners hooked" - Indiecison Magazine "The EP begins with the post rock and progressive ‘Daya’. The video of which is a must watch to get the right first picturesque impression of their music. Having watched that, one sub-consciously tends to conjure up vivid images of the kind while going through their other songs. Shot by Arun Kumar and Shyam Pai on the latter’s handycam in and around the coastal areas of Kochi, the video has a surreal feel going along with it owing to Shyam’s creative editing skills. The 03:30 minute long track progresses and explodes with a particular powerful rhythmic riff that will possibly linger in your mind hours later. ’Psyche’- the second track in order has to be THE (italicized) serene song of the EP starting with sounds of waves gushing in accentuated by some resonant drums and docent tunes of the guitar. This is one song which is better savored than talked about as it leads you to a solitary escape, an experience words would feel timid to describe. The third and the longest track of the album ‘Kettukatha’ (around nine odd minutes) which means “a folk story” starts with and maintains a sort of calmness till around four odd minutes after which it picks up a certain pace and strong guitar strums are pitched at you and before you could realize, the mood to the song is completely changed. In the very first minute, you could hear soft voices of Malyalam children talking about a verdict in High Court, of the lawyers and prime suspects getting hurt, etc in the background. After a heavy dose of distorted riffs, the song again shifts back to its same calm, sedating air and then ends with the faint voices of the same children chuckling and giggling in the background. A story indeed?" -Demrockritic "The Song: “Kettukatha”, meaning “a made up story”, is a nine minute song flowing like a sine wave. A soothing starting building up into thrashing riffs and mellowing down to a slow smooth melody again. The song surely is a pleasure to listen to." -Music Dip “The album opens with the track ‘Daya’ (which was featured by Coldplay), and after that video you can’t really help but visually associate it with time lapses of sand running through your fingers, stop motion shots of serenely stretching shorelines, and moments full of lens flare on the beach.” • Indiecison Magazine