Indie music which is Madan India

New Delhi-based indie musician Hitesh Rikki Madan, who completed over 25 years as a professional musician having started his career as the lead guitarist for Euphoria aged 17 in 1996, released ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’ on February 1, a song that is best described by Madan. “(It is) an easy listening, soft, romantic, out-and-out love song expressing all that one feels when one is falling in love,” he says. “(In) attempting to explore a new sound, this composition was stripped down to baritone vocals and (an) acoustic guitar arrangement which brought out the emotion (with)in this love poem”. Madan further adds: “Since ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’ is a quintessential love song, it falls well in the categories of acoustic pop, romantic, easy-listening, chill, unplugged, and other such playlists, making it an apt release in the Valentine season.”

Valentine’s Day or otherwise, nothing changes the fact that Madan’s ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’ focuses on his familiar voice and introspective, heart-felt lyrics with a polished production, ably mastered by multi-Grammy award-winning audio engineer Andres Mayo (who has been mastering products since 1992 across an incredible three thousand albums) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As with Madan’s prior efforts, including ‘Aao Naa’ on which he sang with sons Ariv and Advay, Madan’s vocals are the most vital aspect, mostly because they are so recognizable, and the song is a catchy acoustic ditty empowering obvious sing-alongs. ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’ is certainly pleasant and comforting and, while it plays safe, the song also provides a lasting impression of pleasantness.

While the music is composed, arranged, performed (vocals, acoustic guitars, ukulele, and keyboards), and produced by Madan, the lyrics are co-written along with Manish Dhawan, recorded by Prabhtoj Singh at Aria: The Studio (earlier known as Rikki’s Workstation), and published by music industry veteran Atul Churamani’s Turnkey Music & Publishing.

For those interested in listening to ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’, please check out:

• To watch the video click here >>
• For SoundCloud audio, click here >>

Besides pursuing a solo career as HRM, Hitesh Rikki Madan is also the founder of EKA  (a New Delhi-based rock band). Madan has also founded Aria: The Music School, a first in West New Delhi to offer formal teaching and learning of contemporary music.

As part of the bands he represented/represents (Euphoria, 1996-2010; EKA, 2010 till date; and HRM, 2020, also till date), Hitesh has performed over 1,800 concerts across 17 countries, including the Indo-Pak peace concert at the UN General Assembly Hall, New York; the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis; the Great Wall Of China; The Red Fort Festival – Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahoutsav; The Times of India Earth Care Awards; International Film Festival of India (Goa); Mountain Echoes Literary Festival (Bhutan); and at the NASSCOM Technology & Leadership Forum. Madan’s repertoire covers multiple genres, including retro and current Bollywood, classic rock, Punjabi, and Sufi, across multi-languages.

Hitesh Rikki Madan is presently working on his debut album as a solo singer-songwriter-composer-producer and, in keeping with the singles that he has released so far, including his latest effort ‘Dil Mera Kho Gaya’, the potential result should certainly focus on his aesthetic tunes. While Hitesh Madan takes a  much-awaited step in the right direction with a debut album, probably containing his trademark love songs free of pretension, my musical suggestion to him here is by referencing Steely Dan’s 1974 hit, ‘Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number’!