‘Electric Flu’, by Sanjana Rajnarayan aka Madm and Purnet Moirangthem aka Ten Purr, stems from a place of loneliness and isolation. But it has nothing to do with the strings of lockdown and social isolation that the world has been grappling with these past few months. Madm’s lyrics have a simpler genesis.
“I had titled this around November or December 2019, when I was spending a lot of time making music in my tiny Mumbai flat. I did not have much company, and the song encapsulates that emotion, coming from that space of solitude, of loneliness,” she says over phone from Mumbai.
Madm “had the beat sitting in my laptop ever since,” and it might still have remained just there, had she not met guitarist Ten Purr on her Mumbai campus. The singer-producer, who had left her Chennai home in 2018 to study music at Mumbai’s True School of Music, put the song together with fellow student Ten Purr. The guitarist took an instant liking to what he heard, and thereon began the collaboration. Now, though Madm finished her course a while ago and Ten Purr continues to attend classes, their joint project has seen light of day.
Madm | Photo Credit: Venkat Balaji
The slow, groovy piece has an oddly calming impact despite its catchy rhythm and electronic treatment. The arrangement seems complex, but the song nevertheless leans heavily on the lyrics as well. Pensive words and origin story notwithstanding, the overall number is surprisingly upbeat. Deliberately so.
Explains Madm, “The lyrics are about wanting validation from people who don’t give it to you, and at the same time pushing away the people who really love you. The arrangement, on the other hand, is a lot more hopeful than melancholic.” Listeners have given her varied reactions to the piece because of this dichotomy, she adds.
Solitude, its gloomier partner loneliness, and the not-so-simple dynamics involved in forging human connection are what the duo has explored in this number, coincidentally releasing it at a time when much of the world is dealing with similar struggles. While the lyrics lean into this, ironically, the music arrangement is layered and intriguing enough to form a distraction unto itself.
Ten Purr | Photo Credit: Special arrangements
The duo is working on separate projects as well — Ten Purr has an EP coming up with his band Peach Envy, besides a number of solo numbers slated for release.
‘Electric Flu’ can be streamed on Spotify, YouTube and other music streaming platforms.