Mera Bhai Releases New EP, “Relax Into Yourself”

London-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Mera Bhai, whose real name is Karthik Poduval, has released his latest EP titled Relax into Yourself. The EP features collaborations with a range of artists, including Stealing Sheep, Joshua Idehen, Private Joy, Maria Uzor, Alex White, and Lawrence Hart.

“Relax into Yourself” is a fusion of Mera Bhai’s musical legacy of over a decade, from being a founding member of psych band Flamingods to being a part of Global Asian Underground collective Daytimers. The EP showcases his unique take on dance music, influenced by his roots in India, alongside time spent growing up in Italy, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Nigeria.

The EP’s focus track “Fire Bun” featuring Mercury-nominated Joshua Idehen is a low swung chugger with fierce lyrical intent. The track is a call to arms against our capitalistic social and political landscape, with empowerment as the message carried through Idehen’s lyrics. The musical backdrop is a statement of intent for Mera Bhai, carving out his own sound with dubby bass, hip hop breaks, acid house 303, and jazzy saxophone all coming together harmoniously.

“Obviously as a fan of Karthik’s work on Flamingods this was a no brainer to get involved with. At the time I’d just moved to Stockholm and was going through a real period of upheaval, within and without, with my life and feelings on the world around me in general, and the contrasting moods of the two tracks given to me gave me a space to lay some thoughts out.  Done in a day thing,” explains Idehen.

Listen to Mera Bhai’s “Fire Bun (featuring Joshua Idehen)” below

Relax into Yourself was originally conceived as a record exploring the themes of self-help and self-care. After a period of grieving three recently lost family members, and parting ways with an eight-year relationship, upheaval and change were pronounced for Karthik both personally and artistically, which heavily impacted his writing process and musical evolution.

Talking about the record, Mera Bhai shared, “I was sampling self-help audio book cassette tapes from the 80s and 90s and was trying to think about a way to bring these ideas that continued to swirl around in my head, into my music. I grew up reading so much of that stuff, Eckhart Tolle, Robin Sharma, Deepak Chopra, etc. That really filled up a lot of my teenage years, which I guess is quite an unconventional use of one’s formative years.”

Relax into Yourself showcases Mera Bhai’s musical evolution, exploring themes of self-help and self-care, and carving out his own unique sound. With collaborations from a range of talented artists, this EP is not to be missed by fans of dance music.

Relax Into Yourself EP is available now via Mera Bhai’s own Morning Raga Records imprint. For more information on Mera Bhai, visit his website here.