Mumbai-based composer-singer-songwriter Nikhil D’Souza has released his first Hindi EP, Waqt. Comprising four-songs, this one attempts to take the listeners back in time and revisit emotions like love, regret and loss. The first song Thode Se Kam is about a person who finds a beloved and suddenly realises how incomplete, his life has always been. Teri Tarah is a track that touches upon themes like letting go of someone you loved. Meanwhile, the third number, Gaye Zamaane is about old-school love and the last song Hairaan is about unhappiness in a present relationship.
“These songs weren’t written keeping in mind the title but when I sat down and looked at them, time played an important role in each one of them,” shares Nikhil, talking about the title of the EP. He admits that he derives inspirations from his own experiences. “What Teri Tarah talks about is something that I also went through at one point in my life. I had ended the relationship with someone but only after they started seeing someone else did I realise how much I miss them and how important they were to me,” adds the 39-year-old musician who has sung well-known tracks like Shaam (Aisha), O Gujariya (Queen), Lip To Lip (Katti Batti) among others.
Although Nikhil is a songwriter himself, he says he is comfortable expressing his thoughts in English, hence the lyrics for this one has been penned by Pinky Poonawala. Sharing how the duo worked on this EP, Nikhil shared, “Pinky and I have been friends for a long time and we started a professional relationship last year with the single Sitaare (2019). Usually, I compose a tune and think about the overall theme and then leave it to Pinky because I know the importance of creative freedom. For example, for Gaye Zamaane, I knew that I wanted to have the word ‘gaye zamaane’ and the song should be something about the past. Once that was decided, it was entirely up to her where she wanted to go with a song.”
But, what made him release an EP in Hindi, we ask. He says, “I want my songs to reach out to a wider audience and Hindi is the language that everybody relates to more in India... but, there is another EP in the pipeline, which will have three English tracks and I think a lot of people will like them because they have melody and are intense in nature. The EP should mostly release next month,” he concludes.
The EP is out on all streaming platforms