Sanjay Michael is clearly not interested in letting guitar music gather dust. On ‘Baby Baby’, the Singapore-based singer-songwriter and guitarist taps into the swagger of classic rock while giving it a distinctly personal spin, delivering a bluesy, groove-led track that feels knowingly retro without becoming trapped in nostalgia.
Raised between Malaysia and Australia before settling in Singapore, Sanjay brings a broad cultural perspective to music rooted in the universal pull of rock ’n’ roll. ‘Baby Baby’ wears its influences openly, with echoes of Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Van Halen running through its muscular guitar work and full-bodied production. Yet it’s his conversational vocal delivery that gives the track its character, adding a loose, almost cheeky quality to the song’s heavier foundations.
There’s a sense of live energy running through the track, with the guitars doing much of the heavy lifting while the blues keeps everything grounded. It’s a sound that connects naturally with Sanjay’s previous work, from his debut album Rocking Into Midnight to the stripped-back Wall Street Blues EP, but ‘Baby Baby’ feels like a deliberate step towards something bigger. The rawness remains, only now it comes with more swagger and a greater sense of scale.
That old-school spirit carries through into the accompanying video, which places Sanjay and his band in a barroom setting and leans fully into the visual language of rock ’n’ roll. There’s no need to overcomplicate things: this is music built around riffs, attitude and personality.
‘Baby Baby’ ultimately works because Sanjay understands what makes classic rock so enduring without attempting to simply recreate it. The result is a spirited, guitar-forward track that looks backwards for inspiration but keeps its feet firmly in the present.
