The Mumbai band’s soaring alt-rock Punjabi song originated in 2015, during the initial days of them coming together
Anurag Tagat
Feb 23, 2022
The Yellow Diary. Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music India
The Yellow Diary scale a new level of poignant arena-rock with their latest single “Sajni,” whose music video stirringly narrates a tale of grief and healing, but from the perspective of a reversed sequence of events.
Vocalist and songwriter Rajan Batra recounts that the Punjabi-language song has undergone several tweaks ever since they wrote it in the early period of the band back in 2015. In addition to being performed as a live staple at every show, they kept going back to “Sajni” in order to finesse it to a version they were happy to release. “Every time we sat down to finish the song we made many additions, but ultimately the question was how to conclude it,” Batra adds.
The conclusion that we finally hear is a crescendo that tugs at the heartstrings of anyone who has suffered a loss, especially in recent times. Bassist Stuart DaCosta says “Sajni” found new relevance due to the Covid-19 pandemic too. He adds, “The fact that the song dropped amid the pandemic closing up is a coincidence, but we do agree that it has helped a lot of people to grieve the loss of their loved ones. Some of my family members, who also got emotional while listening to the song, said, ‘Hey this song has really helped me,’ and that is really touching, means a lot.”
Released last month, “Sajni” follows The Yellow Diary songs such as “Udaan,” “Roz Roz” (their collaboration with singer-composer Shilpa Rao) and singles in 2020, plus their EPs Izafa and Marz from 2018, all released via Sony Music India. “Honestly, they [Sony Music] have always been so open to us, giving us creative freedom and letting us stay true to ourselves. I feel that it does reflect on the final product,” Parikh says about their current standing with a major label.
With more releases coming up in the year, The Yellow Diary have steadily become one of the biggest rock bands in India, but they don’t necessarily want to classify themselves. Drummer Sahil Shah says, “It’s great that people think that The Yellow Diary is holding the Indian rock flag. But we really aren’t thinking rock when we get into a room together. We personally have a different approach to songwriting. Most of the time we are thinking what the best idea for the song and the emotion it carries.”
Watch the video for “Sajni” below. Stream on more platforms here.