Rainy skies, a soulful tune and a touch of romance—O Haseen has everything you need for the perfect monsoon mood. Musician Thomson Andrews has just dropped his monsoon special, O Haseen, a song about love, longing and those moments when you cannot stop thinking about someone special. Known for his work as a singer, composer and vocal arranger with leading names such as AR Rahman and Pritam, Thomson is now bringing his own musical style to the forefront with his latest release.
Talking about the single, he says, “O Haseen is a very special composition that came to me a couple of years ago. As musicians, we are emotional people and draw inspiration from so many aspects of our lives. Interestingly, I composed this track during the monsoon, a season that, much like winter, carries a naturally romantic and reflective quality. From writing and producing the song to finally bringing everything together, the process took some time, and I am thrilled with how it has turned out.”
When it rains, romance seems to find its way in. “O Haseen is about a man expressing his love and trying to articulate what that love deeply means to him. The song explores how love can change, mould and even heal us. Love can take many forms—it can be romantic, or it can be the admiration and devotion you feel towards someone who inspires you. O Haseen captures that devotion through a romantic, almost personified lens.”
He adds, “Musically, I wanted it to be a soulful ballad. My early musical influences are deeply rooted in soul, gospel, R&B, funk and jazz, while my six years of Indian classical training and years of playback experience have given me another vocabulary. Bringing those worlds together allows me to express raw and intense emotion in my compositions. What makes this release especially exciting is that I am putting out a self-composed, self-sung Hindi original outside the film space. I continue to work on major Bollywood projects alongside incredible composers such as Pritam, but O Haseen allows me to present a very different side of my artistic side.”
Does he have a favourite monsoon memory that could have inspired the song? “Yes. My earliest monsoon memories are filled with pure joy—jumping into puddles, running around gardens in raincoats, getting completely drenched and splashing water on friends. Even through my teenage years, the rains brought out this sense of playfulness and positivity. For a few hours, you could almost forget about traffic, delays and everything else happening around you. I also share a lot of beautiful rainy-day memories with my wife. We both absolutely love the monsoon. I think all those experiences become part of an artiste subconsciously. You don’t necessarily sit down and say, ‘I’m going to write a song about this particular memory.’ They live somewhere inside you and eventually find their way into your music. As a musician, you need a strong emotional core to compose. That’s what makes music personal. And perhaps the most rewarding part now is seeing listeners connect with O Haseen and use it as the soundtrack to their own memories, relationships and special someone.
He adds, “I think all those experiences become part of an artiste subconsciously. You don't necessarily sit down and say, ‘I'm going to write a song about this particular memory.’ They live somewhere inside you and eventually find their way into your music. As a musician, you need a strong emotional core to compose. That's what makes music personal. And perhaps the most rewarding part now is seeing listeners connect with O Haseen and use it as the soundtrack to their own memories, relationships and special someone.”
When asked how releasing his own song feels different from working on Bollywood films, he says, “Releasing your own music is incredibly liberating. When you work on a film, OTT project or advertisement, you're serving a larger creative vision. There is a script, a director's perspective, a producer's objective and an entire team working towards one collective story. Your job is to understand that vision and contribute your best to it.
“When you create independent music, you have complete creative freedom. You decide the story. You decide the emotion. You decide the message. You can make something about romance, heartbreak, motivation or pure euphoria. There is a different kind of vulnerability because you're not hiding behind somebody else's story.
“I'm not making music for validation. I'm making it because I have something genuine to say. At this stage of my career, that's probably the biggest difference. I've spent years as a playback singer, vocal arranger, composer and collaborator helping bring other people's musical visions to life. Now I want audiences to understand my own musical identity.”
He adds, “O Haseen is part of that larger journey. It is being released through my independent label, THROAN OF ART MUSIC™.and it is the beginning of a very prolific phase of original music for me. I have a large catalogue that I'm finally bringing to audiences. The next release is another romantic original, Koi Aisi Yaar Bane, which is scheduled for September. O Haseen, Koi Aisi Yaar Bane and several more romantic songs will eventually form part of my upcoming 2027 romantic-themed EP. All of these original songs are being released through my label.
But this chapter is bigger than music releases alone. “I am also curating GHAMMAK™, an international cultural music exchange programme through which I am taking Indian culture to the world and bringing the world's cultures to India — fostering collaborations between artistes across music, films, art and knowledge. For me, original music, cultural exchange and creative entrepreneurship are all connected. They are different expressions of the same desire: to create work that travels and connects.”
Giving us a peek into his next work, Yahi Hain Life Yaaron by Thomson Andrews Collective, he says, “Yahi Hain Life Yaaron comes from a very different side of my musical personality. With the Thomson Andrews Collective, I wanted to create something that celebrates togetherness, friendship, life and the sheer joy of making music collectively. The collective brings together phenomenal vocalists from across India, each with a distinctive voice, personality and musical identity. Their unique voices are what bring Yahi Hain Life Yaaron to life, creating a sound that feels expansive, human and celebratory.
“The idea is to create music that feels lived-in and communal — something you can sing along to, perform with friends and experience together. Yahi Hain Life Yaaron is essentially a celebration of the moment — of friendship, music and saying, ‘This is life, and we're going to live it.’ For me, that's what music has always been about. I've spent so much of my career working with large vocal ensembles, choirs, playback singers and musicians that the Collective feels like a natural extension of that journey.
And finally, we ask him about his experience working with iconic musicians like AR Rahman and Pritam. “Working with icons like AR Rahman sir and Pritam da has been extraordinary. In a country of more than 1.4 billion people, I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to collaborate with masterminds who have played such an important role in shaping my career and my growth as a musician. "
He adds, "From AR Rahman sir, I learned the importance of humility, staying grounded, remaining curious and relentlessly pursuing excellence. Those are lessons that go far beyond music. Pritam da, on the other hand, has this extraordinary ability to continuously reinvent himself. He innovates, stays incredibly tuned into what listeners want, but at the same time isn't afraid to experiment. Both are exceptionally welcoming musicians. My background is heavily influenced by gospel, R&B, funk, soul, jazz, blues, pop and Broadway, and they have always encouraged me to bring those strengths into their film scores and vocal arrangements. Your greatest strength is staying true to your unique voice. At the same time, my Indian classical training allows me to bridge those two worlds."
“I am particularly grateful to Pritam da for his continued mentorship and faith in me across projects including Brahmāstra, Ludo, 83, Metro… In Dino, War 2, Cocktail 2 and the upcoming Haiwaan. I've also had the privilege of working alongside extraordinary composers including Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Amit Trivedi, Vishal-Shekhar, Vishal Bhardwaj and Salim-Sulaiman. Working with artists of that calibre has reinforced for me that staying true to your unique voice is your greatest strength,.”
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