Staccato’s new single, Idhuvarai, is different, but does justice to their sound

Chennai-based Staccato is fresh off their success from their Freshly Brewed series. The band is back in the news with their new Tamil single, Idhuvarai that has a refreshingly new ‘pop’ sound, one that we haven’t heard from the classically-inclined band before. We catch up with RH Vikram, composer and arranger for the band, to find out more.

Your new single, Idhuvarai, brims with promise and hope, tell us a little bit more about the composition, how it came to be and what is the story behind it?
Idhuvarai is a song that actually talks of how beautiful it is to be travelling around the world with your special someone. The whole of 2020 had most of us confined to our homes and lockdowns in several layers. We wanted to do a song that is fresh in all aspects both in terms of our composition, arrangements and theme and also take the listeners along with us on a ’90s nostalgic ride. A song that shows the importance of small, yet the most beautiful things in our lives which we have all been missing for some time now.

From interesting covers to beautiful originals, this single from Staccato also has a fresh sound to it — how do you manage to do that every single time?
It’s the melody that drives the arrangements — be it a cover or an original from Staccato. The arrangements need to give a new flavour retaining the beauty of the original for covers. With respect to originals, the strength of our individual band members gets incorporated into the track, retaining our identity of giving a contemporary twist to the music and that’s the mantra for all originals from Staccato till date.

Will this song be a single or will it be a part of a larger album?
The song is a single for now and has released on maajja and we haven’t thought of making it a part of any larger album, as of now.

What can we look forward to from you next?
We are looking forward to Season 2 of Freshly Brewed with only original compositions from Staccato. We have just started jamming on some ideas for the same.

Streaming now on all major music platforms.
romal@newindianexpress.com
 @elromal