While bumping into Singapore-based artist Druv Kent at this year’s All About Music conference, held in Mumbai during August, he exuded confidence about his career in music. However, nothing really prepared this writer for Druv’s maturity as a songwriter with the release of his latest effort, Hope, on 20^th September, which is featured on Druv’s fifth EP, ‘Indian Spirit’.

On Hope, that features guitarist Rudy Wallang, Dhruv has decided to head-on discuss the rising anxiety among youth ranging from GenZ’s to Gen Alpha which appear to have dramatically increased due to peer pressure rather than any other parameter, encircled by universal crises including, but not limited to, global warming, conflicts among nations, and increasing discontent/disconnects between governments and its citizens. Not one to merely observe things only from the outside on the ever changing environment around him in what he may consider as being apocalyptic, but also to provide a befitting response through his lyrics by offering a message of optimism and resilience in the face of scaling adversity by providing his answer through Hope.

Druv augments his argument by sheer confidence of a master craftsman cruising through his compositional prime by opening the track with a multitude of harmonies, as the mid-tempo song travels into a superblyproduced pop compositionwhile the lyrics cut across the construction – or, rather, the de-construction – of a civilizationthat we are witnessing around us. A marvellous guitar interlude, fittingly subdued to match the lyrical sentiments, further alleviates Druv’s phrasing and tight compositional skills and makesDhruv’s unique mindset still sound fresh by creating a perspective all of his own, supported by vocal subtlety.

While Druv has won the ‘Best Live Performer’ award at the Hungama-organized Indian Independent Music Awardsin 2022, for those not aware of his roots, Druv was born and raised in Kolkata, went to boarding school in Dehradun, and attended college in the U.S. As a child, Druv trained in Hindustani vocals, drums, and tabla; however, Druv was always ’ears ahead in his listening of Western sounds. “My heart was in vocals and percussion,” reminisces Druv, “but I played guitar and keyboards more as compositional tools rather than for performing purposes”. In 2012, Druv even sang for a Bollywood song with Agnee, the Pune-based Hindi rock band, on the song Paa Paraa Paa from the soundtrack of ‘Aalaap’.

Druv has also performed with the Shillong Chamber Choir, scored #1 hits on the World Indie Music Chart – which is powered by Digital Radio Tracker, and features a chart comprising of hundreds of radio stations across the world wherein, each week, all artist “spins” are collected and tabulated to compile a ‘Top 100’. He has also headlined the Asia Television Awards, won the IIMA ‘Best Live Performance – Male’ award, and has performed at various festivals, including headlining the 2019 Kasauli Lit Fest. Apart from music, Druv’s interests lie in strategic and financial consulting, resulting in his becoming an investment banker in Singapore, a city where he currently resides.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Druv Kent is presently working on several projects, including collaborations encompassing Bollywood and Nashville while fronting his own band but, until his genre-bending efforts culminate, do revel yourself in the delicate, touching, and poignant sounds of Hope.

Click on the YouTube link below to watch Druv Kent’s Hope:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALkrCFTUFjg  

By Parag Kamani