Radio Bombay.

Radio Bombay came from wanting to bottle a feeling, the texture of electronics left running in warm rooms. Bandra is a neighborhood in Mumbai where the sea meets the city, where transistor radios once crackled through the heat. David Seth Moltz built the fragrance around that image: sandalwood and cedar as the casing, warm copper tubes at the heart, everything humming. It's not a love letter to a specific place. It's the sensation of being inside sound and warmth and wood.

The combination of sandalwood and coconut is what gives Radio Bombay its body heat, that close, skin-like quality that arrives once the top notes settle. Boronia adds unexpected complexity to the heart. Iris and peach keep things soft. And the copper, that metallic warmth that reads like old radio tubes warming up, is what makes this sandalwood composition unlike other woody fragrances. Balsam fir adds resin without heaviness, giving the base a quiet depth that lingers close to the skin. The overall effect is warm, intimate, and textured, a sandalwood that feels inhabited rather than pristine.

The opening announces cedar first, a sharp, woody presence that doesn't apologize for itself. Within minutes, sandalwood takes over, creamier and warmer, the copper warmth threading through it like current running through old wiring. The heart phase introduces the powder: iris and boronia together, a soft dust that settles over the coconut and musk. The transition isn't dramatic, it's like a room warming up. By hour three, the woody notes are still there but blurred at the edges, the powder has won, and the whole composition sits close to the skin like something already worn. On fabric, it can last into the next day.

DS&Durga, the Brooklyn house founded by David Seth Moltz and his wife Kavi Ahuja Moltz, brings a distinctive perspective to niche perfumery with Radio Bombay. The name evokes a certain audio nostalgia and references Indian incense traditions. The copper-warm sandalwood note anchors the composition in warmth and texture. The scent embraces powdery complexity and a slightly retro sensibility, offering an alternative to more minimalist woody fragrances. Radio Bombay represents a thoughtful approach to sandalwood, layering it with unexpected notes to create something both familiar and distinctly its own.