Rhythms and Riffs

BENGALURU: What  sounds more perfect this monsoon season than sitting on your balcony, headphones on, watching the rain fall? If you need more additions to your monsoon playlist, Frizzell D’Souza and Pratik Tushar’s latest single, Ill at Ease, should be on top of your list. This number features riffs and solos by Tushar, which are complemented by D’Souza’s moody vocals, making it the perfect tune to groove to on a gloomy evening.

The song, which was written during the pandemic, speaks about anxiety and how a person deals with overthinking and feelings of nervousness. It shows two people, one who is new to anxiety, and the second, who is comforting the person. While Tushar feels that it was D’souza’s voice that brought his words to life, city-based singer D’Souza feels that the track is the songwriter’s baby all the way.

“The song speaks volumes about anxiety and what someone goes through when they are dealing with it. It has a soothing and cozy vibe to it. Pratik has captured it beautifully in the song,” says D’Souza, who promptly agreed to collaborate on the song when Tushar approached her. Tushar, who hails from Jharkhand, mentions that this song was a big step for him because he changed the composing process that he’s followed in the past. “Usually, I would compose the music first and then figure out the lyrics, since music is important for me... it sets the groove.

But this time, I wrote the lyrics first and then played certain chords while jamming,” explains Tushar. A self-taught musician, Tushar started playing the guitar when he was 13-14 years old, and some of the first chords he strummed were old-school blues. To understand percussion better, he learnt the tabla for 5 years which gave him a sense of beat .

However, in this song, he didn’t want to ‘overdo’ the instrumentals. “I wanted to keep the vibe low so I went with the guitar, basic drums, and bass. When we came out with the song, we wanted to end with the rock part of it,” says Tushar. Even with multiple elements in the song, he focused on the flow. “The song starts in a low tone and moves on to be groovy. Then, there’s a break after which comes the rock part,” adds Tushar, who created some of the artwork while recording the song, which has been used in the video.