Pranav Birje | Senior Correspondent
While moments of mental sluggishness probably go against every creative instinct in an artist’s body, the new single ‘10kmh’ from Dot., Mary Ann Alexander and Kambli describes it through the creatively rich medium of song. Explaining the idea of being unable to, say, write, or feel, through a piece of art that is full of top-shelf writing and imbued with feeling, seems paradoxical; yet, that is exactly what this is.
The three artists approach the subject from three different places. Dot. assumes the role of the idea-laden artist going through ‘brain fog’ – the nebulous and sometimes uncertain feeling of subconsciously knowing what you want to say while lacking the creative ability in the moment to say it; call it apathy, fatigue, or the figurative ‘slow-moving traffic’ in one’s mind. On the other hand, Mary Ann Alexander is the thoughtful voice who is having a moment of reflection in the track.
Explaining the songs’ hook, Dot. said, _”Can’t cut across the fog” is a reference to the fact that when I was a kid, we used to have to take rounds of the football field every morning. In the winter, the fog was so thick that we would take a shortcut across the field, and the teacher would never notice. In that sense, when I was writing this song, I couldn’t cut across the fog in my brain because it simply refused to co-operate with me. Like just how slow traffic at 10kmh is. I eventually ended up turning that idea into creative inspiration._
Mary Ann Alexander said, _“I’m usually quite fast and efficient when I write. But for this song, I could not immediately tap into that ‘state’. I remember telling Kambli and Dot. that I couldn’t feel the type of way I thought I needed to feel to write this song. But, one day, I caught myself in the right mood and locked in. The beauty of music with a slower, contemplative pace like this is that it gives me the freedom to sing each word with intent, and take my time to melodically express each and every sound I’m making.”_
Kambli is on production and ‘10kmh’ is his debut release in this role. On working with two different voices in the track, he said, _“When I got both vocal takes, I realised Dot.’s vocals are usually more intimate and softer while Mary Ann has a slightly heavier tone. But I decided to produce it the other way round, giving Dot.’s verse a bit ‘more’ and Mary Ann’s a bit ‘less’, leading to an open hook which gave the song a really nice contrast. The groove… I quickly realised it would have to have a sort of lilt to complement the whole theme and sound of the song. Add some snatches of guitar melodies, some melodic passages, and I feel like the final product has a consistent atmosphere which ebbs and flows in a relatively interesting way.”_
‘10kmh’ is out now, streaming on all major audio platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Gaana, Saavn, Deezer, Wynk and YouTube Music, among others.