King Pleaxure brings the Punjabi language into the New York indie music scene lexicon with”Soniye”

There are layers to words. In Hindi/Urdu something like soulfulness can resound like Ruhaniyat in all its sage-ness, and something like Noor can invoke a vague sense of radiance.

It’s no wonder Ayan Sanyal, (who is the desi-American behind the moniker King Pleaxure), created his expression of love in New York. Within 2 minutes and 21 seconds, this pop track explores the pages of his life in the eclectic patchwork that consumes the spirit of any other desi-millennial growing up in America. In a Bollywood movie, the word “soniye” is usually sung with whirling dancers in sultry poses: dance music, and a wedding. Brooklyn-based King Pleaxure re-contextualizes the term within the American pop lexicon, bringing a dreamy backdrop of guitar, piano, and synths to this term of endearment.

And the sounds? Major shout out to the subtle 70’s soul blending with the airiness of his vocal timbre, it also works great in modern indie-pop settings–they’re welcoming to hear–even if the poppiness like the guitar solo invoke moments you might hope for, they’re welcoming none-the-less; they’re tapestries of the modern pop song. The New York-ness of it and truly the title itself lend an understanding of the song beyond its primary linguistic surface-layer. A word someone might say to a soulmate: saying to someone listening, you might be bobbing’ along the second you put it on, ‘but don’t forget where I came from.’

That’s what makes a good song better (for me) when music connects with a life story or a culture, I feel as though I can appreciate the music better on an empathetic level as well. All in all, whatever our Brooklyn brother and friend King Plexure does musically will likely reflect more than the realities of love, optimism, and cynicism: and that’s exciting for me, regardless of societies many manufactured fears, they’re proof someone like him is looking for the same answers that you are, it’s just going to be written from time to time in Hindi and that’s what any dreamer/writer/artist could hope for.