On Friday, The String Cheese Incident officially released their latest single, “Bhangra Saanj”, from their SCI Sound Lab. The track was initially premiered on Thursday via YourEDM.
The new instrumental song is a first-time studio collaboration between The String Cheese Incident and experimental electronic fusion group Beats Antique. The two bands have close ties, regularly playing the same festivals throughout the year. The two acts originally debuted the song live together at Suwannee Hulaween in 2017.
Beats Antique is notorious for pulling different influences from West African, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European music, and it is evident that the trio added an extra helping of their characteristic flavor on “Bhangra Saanj”. Jason Hann and Michael Travis lay down “Bhangra Saanj’s” foundation with a full-throttle beat, which is lathered with twangy fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. As fans have seen more and more in recent times, SCI did not shy away from adding elements of electronic music and different synthesizer effects during their most recent Sound Lab session.
The String Cheese Incident Michael Kang shared his insights on the new track with YourEDM, explaining,
For a few years now, I would run into David and Tommy at some random festival and the conversation would always end up with us expressing a desire to get together to produce a track.
SCI’s Jason Hann added,
The percussion part is me playing the Punjabi Dhol drums along with Middle Eastern doumbek and other percussion textures while Tommy doubles the accents on snare drum. Then I took the track to the SCI guys back in our Colorado studio to zero in on their parts. It’s a really different flavor of a song and the Beats guys have developed their own signature style to play off of.
Beats Antiques‘ Sidecar Tommy also noted,
We had the unique opportunity to collaborate with SCI – one of the hardest working independent touring bands in my lifetime! This track has become a mainstay in our live sets and can’t wait to unleash it!
Listen to The String Cheese Incident’s new song “Bhangra Saanj” featuring Beats Antique below:
The String Cheese Incident & Beats Antique – “Bhangra Saanj”
On Friday, The String Cheese Incident will begin a three-night run of shows at Las Vegas, NV’s Cosmopolitan. For ticketing and more information on the band’s upcoming tour dates, head to SCI’s website here.