Mumbai born singer-songwriter Nikhil releases his debut EP, ‘Simple Kind Of Love’, on September 7 via eastwest/Warner Music. Produced by Jonathan Quarmby (Benjamin Clementine – At Least For Now) at London’s Rak Studios, the full release will be led by the EP’s title track ‘Simple Kind Of Love’, which follows three Radio 2 play-listed singles that have amassed over 1 million streams online.

The single’s instrumentation nods towards Nikhil’s heritage, whilst the joyful melody mirrors the optimistic outlook embedded within the track’s sentiment – one of placing trust and simplicity in a relationship.

Speaking about the new single, ‘Simple Kind Of Love’, Nikhil says: “The lyrics and melody came from an innocent sentiment: trying to keep things simple in a relationship. At the time I was starting to see a girl whilst also traveling a lot. We told ourselves that it was important to trust each other and stick with the simplicity of things if our relationship had to survive the long periods away from each other. It was an idealistic way to go about things, it worked – at least for a while.”

Nikhil has toured extensively in 2018, including spots at this year’s Great Escape, Live At Leeds and Radio 2’s Biggest Weekend, alongside support for Lissie and his own sold-out headline show in May at London’s Waiting Room. He will now support Australian, Xavier Rudd on a full UK tour, taking in a date at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on September 15, 2018.

There’s putting in the miles and the hours, and digging deep in pursuit of your music. And there’s the graft put in by Nikhil. From Mumbai via offshore gas rigs working as a young geologist (two, one in Japan’s Sea of Okhotsk, the other in the Indian Ocean), Nikhil chose to walk away from the successful career his Goan parents had chosen for him. Returning to his hometown, the clear versatility of his voice landed him a gig singing a widely-heard advertising song. That led to work as a ‘playback singer’ in Bollywood’s multi-billion-rupee industry, voicing the musical numbers for a wide range of major Bollywood films such as Anjaana Anjaani and Queen. Bollywood enabled D’Souza to make a living, and from there – via song-writing stints in Nashville – he came to the UK, and a you-had-to-be-there showcase in the basement of a central London Italian restaurant, before signing to eastwest.

‘Simple Kind Of Love’ EP

1. Simple Kind Of Love
2. Weightless
3. Take On Me
4. Simple Kind Of Love (Piano Mix)

UK Tour Dates

12 Sept | Garage, Glasgow

13 Sept | Academy 2, Manchester

14 Sept | O2 Academy, Bristol

15 Sept | Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London