Key facts

  • Formation: Independent band from Pune, formed in 2015, with eight members.
  • Releases: Debut album As Written in the Stars was crowdfunded and released in August 2017 with eight tracks.
  • Origins: The band grew out of time co-founder Sanyanth Naroth spent in Kolkata in the summer of 2015 with his college friend and bassist Malay Vadalkar.
  • Awards: Malay Vadalkar won the IRAA award for Independent Song Recording for Enjoy It While It Lasts in 2018.
  • Press: The 2022 EP Caught in a Parade was rated the best Indian EP of 2022 by Rolling Stone, and its single Enemy featured in the Amazon film Gehraiyaan.

Easy Wanderlings songs come from three releases: the 2017 album As Written in the Stars, the 2019 EP My Place to You and the 2022 EP Caught in a Parade, and the best-known among them are Enjoy It While It Lasts, Ode to a Bristlecone, Enemy and Mayflower. Easy Wanderlings is an independent eight-member band from Pune, formed in 2015, whose music mixes ambient soul, pop and folk, according to the band's Wikipedia entry. Enemy was used in the film Gehraiyaan, and Enjoy It While It Lasts won its engineer an Indian Recording Arts Academy award. Below is every track, release by release, with the stories behind the key songs.

More facts about Easy Wanderlings

  • Independent band from Pune, formed in 2015, with eight members (Wikipedia).
  • Debut album As Written in the Stars was crowdfunded and released in August 2017 with eight tracks (Wikipedia).
  • The band grew out of time co-founder Sanyanth Naroth spent in Kolkata in the summer of 2015 with his college friend and bassist Malay Vadalkar (Pune Mirror).
  • Malay Vadalkar won the IRAA award for Independent Song Recording for Enjoy It While It Lasts in 2018 (Wikipedia).
  • The 2022 EP Caught in a Parade was rated the best Indian EP of 2022 by Rolling Stone, and its single Enemy featured in the Amazon film Gehraiyaan (Wikipedia).

Who are Easy Wanderlings

Pune Mirror described the group as the city's own soul-pop band, one that draws its songs from travel and life experience (Pune Mirror). Naroth, the songwriter and guitarist, told the paper that members are encouraged to travel, experience life and record those experiences so the band stays true to its name, and that it only writes about subjects close to its members.

The current line-up, as listed by Wikipedia:

  • Sanyanth Naroth: composer, lyricist, rhythm guitar, lead vocals.
  • Malay Vadalkar: bass guitar, backing vocals.
  • Pratika Gopinath: lead vocals, percussion.
  • Nitin M. Krishna: keyboard.
  • Sharad Rao: guitar, lead vocals.
  • Shardul Bapat: violin.
  • Siya Ragade: flute.
  • Abraham Zachariah: drums, percussion.

Until As Written in the Stars came out, the core members kept their identities hidden from the public. The band's folk and soul influences put it in the company of the artists in our guide to Indian indie folk and acoustic artists.

As Written in the Stars (2017)

The debut album was crowdfunded and released in August 2017, with guest artists across its eight tracks (Wikipedia). Deccan Chronicle reported at release that the band had remade earlier songs, added four new ones and went into a studio for a better sound, and noted that nearly all their tracks begin with the soft touch of a guitar. The band promoted it at Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune 2017, where Rolling Stone India called them Pune favourites who opened day two on the Dewarists stage, handing out T-shirts and posters.

1. Ode to a Bristlecone

The album's opening track (Wikipedia) and the band's first official video, sung by Pratika Gopinath and opening with a poem. Naroth told Deccan Chronicle that bristlecone pines are among the oldest trees in the world, and the song compares them to people who have seen hardship and put up walls, telling them to give life a chance.

2. Here's to You

The second track on As Written in the Stars (Wikipedia).

3. Summer is Away

Track three (Wikipedia), fitting for a band whose origin story begins with a summer spent in Kolkata in 2015 (Pune Mirror).

4. I for Little Things

The fourth track on the album (Wikipedia). Naroth sings the line about living for the little things through all of life's changes, per Deccan Chronicle.

5. Enjoy It While It Lasts

The band's signature song so far. Bassist and audio engineer Malay Vadalkar won the Indian Recording Arts Academy award for Independent Song Recording for it in 2018 (Wikipedia). The official music video is on the band's YouTube channel and is the place to start.

6. Dream to Keep Us Going

Track six on As Written in the Stars (Wikipedia). Deccan Chronicle linked its chorus, about needing only a dream to keep going, to the message of Ode to a Bristlecone.

7. Faces

The seventh track on the album (Wikipedia).

8. Going Easy

The album closer (Wikipedia).

My Place to You (2019)

In September 2019 the band released My Place to You, a two-track concept EP (Wikipedia).

9. Beneath the Fireworks

The first of the EP's two songs (Wikipedia).

10. Madeline

The second half of My Place to You (Wikipedia). Because the band calls it a concept EP, the two songs are best heard back to back.

Caught in a Parade (2022)

The band's soul-funk EP Caught in a Parade came out in 2022 and was rated the best Indian EP of 2022 by Rolling Stone, according to Wikipedia. It is the band's most recent release listed on Wikipedia.

11. Enemy

Enemy deals with cancel culture and was featured in the Amazon Original film Gehraiyaan starring Deepika Padukone (Wikipedia).

12. Center of the Universe

The second track on Caught in a Parade (Wikipedia).

13. Mayflower

An acoustic ballad recorded with Mumbai singer-songwriter Nikhil D'souza (Wikipedia). D'souza is one of the Mumbai names in our Mumbai indie scene guide.

14. Castles in the Air

The fourth track on the EP (Wikipedia).

15. Makin' my Move

The EP's closing track (Wikipedia).

Unreleased songs and live sets

Ahead of a show at IISER Pune, Naroth told Pune Mirror that around 90 per cent of the set would be originals, including then-unreleased songs called Chiquita and Heroes of the World. He said the band chose the venue so people could come with their grandparents. Neither song appears in the band's Wikipedia discography, so treat them as live-only unless they surface on streaming.

Easy Wanderlings live

The band played NH7 Weekender Pune in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and VH1 Supersonic 2018, a festival headlined by Major Lazer, Marshmello and Sean Paul (Wikipedia). It was booked for SXSW 2020 in Austin, which was cancelled because of the pandemic, and played Lollapalooza India in Mumbai in January 2023. For more acts in the same independent space, see our list of the best Indian independent artists of 2026.

Where to start with Easy Wanderlings

Start with Enjoy It While It Lasts for the award-winning recording, then Enemy from the soul-funk Caught in a Parade, and Mayflower if you want the quietest side of the band. Listen to As Written in the Stars in order, which at eight tracks is a short listen.

FAQ

Where are Easy Wanderlings from

Easy Wanderlings are from Pune, Maharashtra, and formed there in 2015 (Wikipedia).

How many members are in Easy Wanderlings

The band has eight members, led by composer and lyricist Sanyanth Naroth (Wikipedia).

Which Easy Wanderlings song was in Gehraiyaan

Enemy, from the 2022 EP Caught in a Parade, was featured in the Amazon Original film Gehraiyaan (Wikipedia).

What genre are Easy Wanderlings

Their music shows ambient soul, pop and folk influences, and Caught in a Parade leans into soul-funk (Wikipedia).

Sources

Cover photo: Nikita Borges (uploaded by Sanyanth Naroth) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Sources

Discography is an independent music magazineHow to get coveredRelease music in IndiaIndian indieIndian indie bandsAbout