ALBUM REVIEW: BETA- Peter Cat Recording Co.

Review by Olivia Valera

In the depths of summer, amidst heat waves that leave me lazy and uninspired, I receive a notification that will change the trajectory of my 2024 Spotify wrapped: Peter Cat Recording Co’s newest album, “Beta,” has been released. Following several acclaimed albums, “Portrait of a Time: 2010-2016″ and “Bismillah,” their latest album is no less a display of their creative and musical ingenuity than their preceding releases. After a four-year hiatus, the release of “Beta” kicks off their tour with additional shows across Europe and ends in South Asia. Suffice it to say I immediately bought tickets for their show in Boston. The release of “Beta” kicked off their tour in North America, stopping by the House of Blues on September 7th.

Peter Cat Recording Co. started in the early 2010s when vocalist Suryakant Sawhney began playing house shows and festivals, recording songs that would accumulate into PCRC’s first album, “Sinema,” in January 2011. It followed in 2012 with the “Wall of Want.” While both albums are no longer on major streaming platforms, they are fully available on YouTube. The music of PCRC is made distinct by Sawhney’s melodious, resonant voice and the unexpected but remarkable blend of instrumentation present throughout their work. 

Beta बेटा,  translating to “son” from Hindi, is an hour-long contemplation of a world facing an increasing moral crisis surrounding loneliness, climate, and economic struggles. It is a work of reflection on both the hopeless and the hopeful. Alas, PCRC meets the darkness with warm vocals and upbeat jazz fusion that one can’t help but smile and nod along to. Many of their new tracks, such as “Suddenly” and “Foolmuse,” have quickly become some of their most replayed songs on Spotify and Apple Music. “Foolmuse” sounds like it could be the next alternative indie hit of 2024. I find it hard to pick a favorite track off the new album, as I savor the quirks of each, but “People Never Change” and “Connexion” have made their way to the top of my replay list.

The first track off of “Beta,” “Flowers R. Blooming,” begins with the unnerving sound of two loud explosions followed by the gradual development of harmonious sounds culminating in the simple lyrics “maybe I’m a fool,” which inform the rest of the album’s self-doubt about humanity’s past, current, and future existence in the world. On the second track, “People Never Change,” PCRC brazenly admits to its faults and then forgives them with total absolution, all in the same breath. Its pop-dance rhythm and cheeky instrumentals contrast the macabre humor in the words “I can walk away, spineless,” – summing up our conflict-avoidant generation in the quip “I don’t want to face a crisis or something that’s too real.” The album’s concerns for climate come through in “Seed,” an upbeat narrative of the destruction of our planet and humanity’s propensity to continue on a destructive path in its melancholy, apathetic way. 

Call me overly optimistic, but walking around with “Beta” blaring from my headphones stimulates the proverbial self-reflective appetite. Dare I call Peter Cat Recording Co. change makers? Despite directly addressing several issues our world faces, they lack the doom and gloom that causes many activist groups to lose steam. Fear not; “Beta” will have us all up and moving–regardless of where else we put our energies.