One part introspection coupled with two parts each of retrospection and bereavement make for a heady lyrical concoction served in Mumbai-based musician Tejas Menon’s new EP, Museum . The lingering sense of nostalgia, articulated with the harmonic timbre of the sarangi, sets the tonality of the four-track EP, which takes off on a meditative note in the prelude, ‘Exspiravit in Machina’, where the words “I remember” reverberate on a loop. The voice belongs to the singer-songwriter’s father, who passed away in 2021, and the audio is extracted from the last of his videos.
“This one is from when my father was addressing my sister on her 50th birthday. I couldn’t help but reflect on those words. So, I cleaned up the audio with AI and added it to the EP.
It’s reminiscent of Mufasa in The Lion King or the ghost of Hamlet’s father...
like he’s there with us, in spirit,” Tejas says. Though Tejas pegs the progression of the EP’s emotional moodboard on the universality of losing one’s parents, making it relatable to his listeners, there is a personal curve to it — the one that is rooted in the complicated relationship with his father. Tejas Menon| Photo Credit:Special arrangement “ Museum has been an attempt at not just reconciliation with my memory of my father, but also an exploration into my identity on a more literal level.
Who I am as an Indian, as an immigrant, and to study my own history,” he shares. As Tejas takes us through his father’s last ye.
