How do you tell a friend you love them without sending out the wrong signal? If that is a head scratcher, then composing songs along the love-and-friendship theme is not exactly a piece of cake.
And yet, that was the brief given to singer-songwriter Frizzell D’Souza by record label Kappa Orginals. “They had approached me last year for a five-song EP because I had worked with them on one song previously,” says Frizzell, who adds, “they wanted happy, upbeat compositions.”
Frizzell says she was intrigued by the idea of capturing a love that was not romantic, which led her to look into her own relationships. As a result, “all the songs that are a part of In My Asymmetry explore the themes of love and friendship, and love for your family.”
Understandably, getting used to concept took longer than composing the music and lyrics, says the musician. “It was challenging and fun. The song ‘Long to Be’ is about companionship, and about how one wants to be a dependable friend. The codependency two people share is platonic. It is quite hard to explain in a lovable way — expressing it without making it sound romantic was quite a task.“
Frizzell says the biggest story behind In My Asymmetry’scompositions is with ‘Mum’s Lullaby’. During the pandemic, both her parents and her older sister who are in the healthcare field were posted on COVID duty, while Frizzell was at home, logged in for her online classes. “One time when my mother came home, she sat both my sister and me down, and told us about the family documents we might need in case of any eventuality.”
That is when, Frizzell says, the enormity of situation really hit her. “As a family, we are not very sentimental or expressive so saying ‘I love you’ did not come easily. ‘Mum’s Lullaby’ is about putting that intrinsic emotion into a song.”
Frizzell D’Souza | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The musician says while ‘Paintbrushes in the Ground’ is about self love, ‘Symmetries’ is a personal story of how she turned from studying architecture to a musical career and how it was such a departure from a steady corporate life she had originally envisioned. “The last line of the song goes ‘I look my best in my asymmetry’.”
In My Asymmetry is “an evolution” from Frizzell’s signature sound of bluesy acoustics to electronica. She was aided in this by Aadarsh Subramaniam who layered the tones of her classical guitar with electronica. Nikhil Vasudevan provided the percussion, with Anirudh Ravi on the acoustic guitar and Surya Kalyanaraman on the bass.
In My Asymmetry is out on all streaming platforms.
Published - September 10, 2024 08:47 pm IST
