EXCISE DEPT drop new single ‘Freedom’ ahead of sophomore album

Mumbai collective EXCISE DEPT has signed to London's Dialled In Records and announced their second album, ‘Shopnobhumi’ (‘Dreamland’), out later this year.

The group (comprising Karanjit Singh, Andrew Sabu, Rounak Maiti and Siddhant Vetekar) spent 2025 slowing down after their more hip hop-leaning 2024 debut ‘SAB KUCH MIL GAYA MUJHE VOL 1’.

The record was written and produced with electronic artist Sanjay Das (Philtersoup), recorded live across sessions in Mumbai and at Abbey Road in London.

Describing the album's concept, the collective says it is “akin to the Voyager Golden Record: a lost multilingual transmission drifting in the endless void,” drawing on partition-era stories, patriotic songs and oral histories from their own upbringing.

“Every song was heavily improvised, and most of the tracks are a fully live recording without any metronome or grid. In each session, we'd have everything set up and move between stations freely,” the group say about ‘Shopnobhumi’.

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‘Freedom’ arrived as the first single off the upcoming record on August 14; one day before Partition and the anniversary of Indian independence.

Built around soft piano play, soothing synths and light bass, the track centres on an oral history recording of Rounak's maternal grandmother, speaking in Bengali about the limits placed on her freedom: “If perhaps I didn't get married, if I had that freedom, maybe I'd have a better chance of seeing and knowing the world.”

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The accompanying music video was filmed during the annual flamingo migration in Navi Mumbai, where the album was largely recorded and where three of the band's members grew up. It follows thousands of flamingos taking flight around a lake, watched by local bird-watchers and passersby.

Watch below.

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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