Dr Sinha's Jazz Lobotomy

PREMIERE: Dr Sinha’s Jazz Lobotomy’s Debut Single “Grown Man”

With so much talent pouring out of the national scene every day, artists are faced with a real challenge: to create something that is truly unique enough to stand out from the pack. On their debut single Grown Man, brand new Melbourne collective Dr Sinha’s Jazz Lobotomy effortlessly engineer a sound that’s all their own, premiering their brand of RnB-infused jazz with an indie-pop sensibility here today ahead of the song’s official release tomorrow.

In Grown Man, Dr Sinha’s Jazz Lobotomy tackle anxiety as a symptom of fruitlessly attempting to live up to social expectations of masculinity. It’s a timely statement in a climate where gender and identity politics are finally beginning to pervade mainstream consciousness, but the song itself retains a sense of humour through its subject matter. Hell, there’s even a David Attenborough (Atten-bro) namecheck. Sonically, Grown Man is meaty, hooky, and irrepressibly infectious – informed by jazz in a way that fans of BadBadNotGood will appreciate. Themes of anxiety are likely to pervade the quintet’s future releases because, as Sinha remarks, he doesn’t “really have much else going on”. Can relate.

Though the project is new, each of the five members of the Lobotomy – led by Indian-Australian guitarist/vocalist Chinmay Sinha – have a rich and storied musical history and wealth of knowledge; weaving their experiences together in order to explore culture and identity in modern Australia through music. This isn’t your average group of mates who thought they’d just give this band thing a burl: lead vocalist Emily Merrett has a Masters in Music Therapy, bassist James Jablonka plays regularly with various Indian classical musicians in Melbourne including Bansuri extraordinaire Vinod Prasanna, percussionist Ryan Evans has performed at Melbourne’s prestigious Hamer Hall, and keys player Phoebe Elsworth is in multiple other local jazz groups. That’s to say nothing of Sinha himself, who was the vocalist on a By Chewing track that premiered on The 405 and is a part-time film scorer – but by founding The Lobotomy he has, as he puts it, “become the doctor his parents always wanted him to be”. Add those elements up and you get an undeniably impressive resume for a band that’s just starting out.

Tune in and get lost in this one – and if you’re in Melbourne, you can catch The Lobotomy live at the dates below.

SUN 12 FEB | BAR 303, NORTHCOTE, MELBOURNE VIC
SUN 26 FEB | BAR OPEN, FITZROY, MELBOURNE VIC

Photo: Jay Junior