Sid Sriram Returns With New Single ‘Friendly Fire’
Sriram’s new album ‘Sidharth’ is out August 25.
Sid Sriram has returned with “Friendly Fire,” a new single from his forthcoming Def Jam debut Sidharth ahead of its release on August 25.
“Friendly Fire” follows the renowned Bollywood vocalist’s recent single “The Hard Way,” which was praised by The New York Times upon its release in the Playlist and called a “a clattering, experimental pop song” that is a must-listen for fans of James Blake, Bon Iver and more.
On Sidharth, hook-forward tracks with dance floor energy, like the Afrobeat-inflected “Friendly Fire,” slot in next to unexpected diversions like “The Hard Way,” which draws on the album’s R&B, indie rock, and American pop styles he grew up with as an immigrant kid in Fremont, CA, in the 90s and 2000s.
The album’s creation process was unlike any other he had undertaken before, with a significant difference being that the vocals are delivered in English. In the summer of 2021, he took a leap of faith and hopped on a plane to Minneapolis, where he and producer Ryan Olson (Poliça, Gayngs, Bon Iver) began working together. The two had previously only met on Instagram.
During an intense week in the studio, most of the songs were tracked live by a small team of Olson’s associates, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, a longtime inspiration for Sid. Fittingly, Sid will be opening for Bon Iver on tour this month after his recent sold out headline show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.
All this may seem like a far cry from the music that has made Sid famous with Bollywood fans worldwide since breaking out with his first hit soundtrack song, “Adiye” (from 2013’s Kadal), just a year out of music school. Indeed, many of the million-plus-viewed videos of Sid feature him singing ragas backed by traditional instruments, not freestyling personal narratives over glitchy 808s and Auto-Tune beds.
