>Ser Amantio di Nicolao at 06:30, 17 January 2021

2021-01-17T06:30:25Z

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{{Infobox album
| name = Insignify
| type = studio
| artist = [[Rainburn]]
| cover = Insignify_rainburn_cover.jpg
| alt = cover art of Insignify
| released = {{Start date|df=y|2018|11|07}}<ref name="itunes">{{cite web |title=Insignify |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/insignify/1441608498 |website=[[iTunes]] |publisher=[[Apple Inc]] |accessdate=17 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="bandcamp">{{cite web |title=Insignify |url=https://rainburn.bandcamp.com/releases |website=[[Bandcamp]] |accessdate=17 February 2019}}</ref>
| recorded = 2018
| studio =
| genre = [[Progressive rock]]
| length = 48:06<ref name="itunes"/>
| label = Independent<ref name="itunes"/>
| producer =
| prev_title = [[Canvas of Silence]]
| prev_year = 2014
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
'''''Insignify''''' is the debut [[studio album]] by [[India]]n [[progressive rock]] band [[Rainburn]], released on 7 November 2018<ref name="itunes"/> and was mastered at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden.<ref name="officialbio">{{cite web |title=Band Bio |url=http://rainburn.com/the-band/ |website=Rainburn official website |accessdate=16 February 2019}}</ref> It is a concept album about "the search for identity, significance and purpose within the overarching meaninglessness of life."<ref name="bandcamp"/>

== Background and promotion ==
After releasing the EP ''[[Canvas of Silence]]'' and touring in order to promote it, the band started to look for a label via which they could release the album.<ref name="thehindu">{{cite web |last1=Rodricks |first1=Allan Moses |title=Creating their own soundscape |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/creating-their-own-soundscape/article7024629.ece |website=[[The Hindu]] |publisher=[[The Hindu Group]] |accessdate=16 February 2019 |date=15 March 2015}}</ref>

In May 2017, the band released their first music video for "Merchant of Dreams".<ref name="officialbio"/> Also in 2017, the band mentioned a future debut album by the name of ''The Anthropic Conceit'' and which was expected to be funded by a campaign on [[Fuel a Dream]] and then succeeded by a tour.<ref name="deccanchronicle">{{cite web |last1=Prabbhan |first1=Pooja |title='Burn'ing with passion! |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/music/071117/burning-with-passion.html |website=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |publisher=Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited |accessdate=16 February 2019 |date=7 November 2017}}</ref> By 2018, however, the album was being promoted with the new and final title of ''Insignify''.

On 1 October 2018, they released the video of "Suicide Note", a song inspired by a verse by [[Agha Shahid Ali]] ("I could not simplify myself.") and expressing "a desperate need to be understood while contemplating suicide, an irony because perhaps that need signifies that all hope isn't lost yet."<ref name="lssuicide">{{cite web |last1=Ewing |first1=Jerry |title=Rainburn release video for new song Suicide Note |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/rainburn-release-vide-for-new-song-suicide-note |website=[[Louder Sound]] |publisher=Future Plc |accessdate=19 February 2019 |date=1 October 2018}}</ref>

On November 6, the eve of the album's release, the band made it wholly available for listening on YouTube.<ref name="lsstream">{{cite web |last1=Ewing |first1=Jerry |title=Rainburn stream new album Insignify... |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/rainburn-stream-new-album-insignify |website=[[Louder Sound]] |publisher=Future Plc |accessdate=19 February 2019 |date=6 November 2018}}</ref>

On December 5, the band released a lyric video for "Within", a track based on [[Hermann Hesse]]'s ''[[Siddhartha (novel)|Siddhartha]]''. It features additional vocals from singer and podcast host Vidyaa Prakash and is considered a shifting point in the album, returning to the brighter sound of the album's first couple of songs, since it marks the point in the plot in which the protagonist has found "some semblance of inner peace".<ref name="rsiwithin">{{cite web |last1=Tagat |first1=Anurag |title=Premiere: Hear Rainburn Reflect on Happiness on New Single ‘Within’|url=http://rollingstoneindia.com/premiere-hear-rainburn-reflect-happiness-new-single-within/ |website=[[Rolling Stone]] India |accessdate=19 February 2019 |date=5 December 2018}}</ref>

== Concept ==
Inspiration for the album came from a lot of different sources that vocalist and guitarist Vats Iyengar read before production. He said the album is about the significance of life from the point of view of an artist<ref name="deccanchronicle"/> (more precisely a musician<ref name="homepage">{{cite web |title=Home|url=http://rainburn.com/ |website=Rainburn official website |accessdate=18 February 2019}}</ref>) and deals with themes such as existentialism, narcissism, craving importance, insecurity and the search for reason.<ref name="homepage"/><ref name="lsstream"/> Iyengar, the main songwriter, wanted the album to "happen in an organic way".<ref name="rsiinsignify">{{cite web |last1=Tagat |first1=Anurag |title=Rainburn Weave in Existentialist Metaphors and Sublime Prog on Debut Album ‘Insignify’|url=http://rollingstoneindia.com/rainburn-prog-debut-insignify/ |website=[[Rolling Stone]] India |accessdate=19 February 2019 |date=8 November 2018}}</ref>

Apart from [[Dream Theater]], [[Pain of Salvation]] and Hindustani classical music, [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] is also an influence on the album, specifically on the track "Purpose", composed as a [[fugue]].<ref name="rsiinsignify"/>

=== Title ===
The band officially defines the album title as follows:<ref name="homepage"/>

{{cquote|The word 'Insignify' is a portmanteau of two words:
(1) Signify: To symbolize something; to be an indication of<br>
(2) Insignificance: Being unimportant; having no consequence}}

== Reception ==
''Insignify'' was elected one of the best 2018 Indian albums by ''[[Rolling Stone]] India''. David Britto wrote
<blockquote>
[...] it doesn't take long to hear the band's diversity and exponential dynamics come through. [...] frontman Vats Iyengar portrays his angsty lyrics over the heavy ballad "Merchant of Dreams" and the Porcupine Tree leaning "Elusive Light." On "Purpose," the band present quite an interesting tune with a chunk of the track {{sic|comprising|hide=y}} only of a cappella vocal harmonies followed by the riff heavy fast-paced "Suicide Note." Things simmer down on the hopeful "Within" while the record closer "School of Atlantis" has a bluesy undertone with an enjoyable groove.<ref name="rsibest2018">{{cite web |last1=Tagat |first1=Anurag |last2=Chakraborty |first2=Riddhi |last3=Britto |first3=David |title=Best Indian Albums of 2018 |url=http://rollingstoneindia.com/best-indian-albums-2018/ |website=[[Rolling Stone]] India |accessdate=16 February 2019 |date=31 December 2018}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| all_lyrics = Vats Iyengar
| all_music = Vats Iyengar, except "The Wait", co-written by Manu Shrivastava; and "Someone New", co-written by Praveen Kumar<ref name="bandcamp"/>

| title1 = The Wait
| length1 = 1:52
| title2 = Merchant of Dreams
| length2 = 6:15
| title3 = Elusive Light
| length3 = 6:36
| title4 = Mirrors
| length4 = 4:16
| title5 = Someone New
| length5 = 5:35
| title6 = Purpose
| length6 = 2:41
| title7 = Suicide Note
| length7 = 6:44
| title8 = Insignify
| length8 = 1:46
| title9 = Within
| length9 = 5:16
| title10 = School of Atlantis
| length10 = 7:05

| total_length = 48:06<ref name="itunes"/>
}}

==Personnel==
According to the album page at [[Bandcamp]]:<ref name="bandcamp"/>

'''Rainburn'''
* Vats Iyengar - [[Singing|lead vocals]], [[backing vocals]], [[electric guitar|electric]] and [[acoustic guitar]]s
* Ravi Nair - [[Bass guitar|bass]]
* Praveen Kumar - [[Drum kit|drums]], [[Percussion instrument|percussion]]

'''Guest performances'''
* Vidyaa Prakash - additional vocals on "Within"
* Gurekta Sethi - outro voiceover on "Mirrors"
* Toshimoa Jamir - final guitar solo on "Elusive Light"
* Yogeendra Hariprasad - keyboards on "Mirrors"
* Manu Shrivastava - piano, keyboards on "The Wait"
* Sidharth Bharadwaj - flute on "School of Atlantis"

'''Technical personnel'''
* Thejus Nair - mixing at Eleven Gauge Recordings
* Tony Lindgren - mastering at Fascination Street Studios
* Aaron Pinto / Kidsquidy - artwork

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2018 debut albums]]
[[Category:Rainburn albums]]
[[Category:Concept albums]]

Insignify - Revision history

>Ser Amantio di Nicolao at 06:30, 17 January 2021