Medicine and rock 'n' roll are odd bedfellows.
The connection between visual art and modern music is well known, which a number of artists – Bryan Ferry, Alex Kapranos – have earned a living teaching in schools. Yet medicine remains forever on the sidelines, a career removed from the hustle and bustle of the musical world.
A trained doctor, Sukh – real name Sukhdeep Krishan – is the exception. The rising Manchester songwriter matches his medical career to a love of music, managing to find the time to write, arrange and produce his debut album all by himself. The results are a surprise. Refusing to sit back, Sukh continues to push himself into new territories.
Armed with an acoustic, the songwriter recalls the more pastoral, up beat moments of Sufjan Stevens with a country tinge that is informed by Neil Young (think 'Harvest') and even less hip names such as Cat Stevens. It seems that the Manchester artist is confident enough to write songs – great big, hulking things which groan under the weight of the emotion contained therein.
Take 'Kings': for someone whose daily life is so consumed by the body, it plunges head first into the world of the imagination.
"And your conscious it grows
Like a root through a stone
A professor in the zone
Cooking chicken at home
Biting down to the bone".
Listen to it now.
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Sukh's debut album 'Kings' is out now.
