Shaan and Sonia Keshwani in the “Meethi Meethi Barsatein” music video. Photo: YouTube
The monsoons haven’t exactly receded in some parts of India, which makes rainy-day songs like Shaan and Sonia Keshwani’s lo-fi Hindi pop song “Meethi Meethi Barsatein” timely still.
True to label Juju Baby Music’s style with all their releases so far, there’s a music video aided by AI that’s created by director Shreya Mehrotra, with Shaan and Keshwani singing about lovers reminiscing the good times that they associate with rainy days. The label’s co-founder and composer-producer Gourov Dasgupta takes on composing duties for “Meethi Meethi Barsatein” with lyricist Farhan Memon and music producer Soumya M.
Shaan tells Rolling Stone India in an email interview that hearing the song idea, the singer felt as though he was “falling in love at first sight.” He adds, “Singing for Gourov Dasgupta has always been a pleasure for me as he is always open to the singer’s interpretation, knows what he wants and is never the pushy insistent type. His songs are always graphed so correctly that as a singer you would always have the mark of what exactly is required for giving life to the song.”
Although he’s not a believer in genres and categorizing music as specific styles, Shaan does acknowledge the growing importance given to a music production aesthetic like lo-fi. “We have to keep along with the times, without losing the essence of a timeless melody that connects emotionally,” he says.
Among the easier things for Shaan on this project was making the music video. When asked about the use of artificial intelligence to make the “Meethi Meethi Barsatein” video, Shaan says, “If we talk in terms of execution, the video was as simple as a cakewalk. I must mention that AI-aided videos are the new exciting future of music videos. We took hardly a few minutes to shoot the video at my residence and the results came out astounding. The music felt like a very natural and seamless process as all we had to do was just lip-sync to the song.”
Keshwani, for her part, is elated at the chance of being on the same track as Shaan. The Seattle-based Indian artist who performed at music education platform Artium Academy’s talent show, the Artium Superstar, said she received communication from the curators about Shaan liking her voice. She adds, “[Shaan] wanted me to be part of a single he was working on with Juju Baby Music [co-founded by Artium Academy]! I was absolutely stunned and dumbfounded when I heard the news — there’s no better way to describe it. This was a complete surprise! How often do you wake up to find out you’ll be working directly with a musician you’ve been a die-hard fan of?”
Out in the U.S., Keshwani has been a regular emcee at music events for desi artists, plus opening for the likes of Atif Aslam and now working with Shaan. “I have a few original tracks and special collaborations in the works, and I’m eager to share more details when the time comes,” she adds.
Shaan says he too has more songs coming out with Dasgupta and Juju Baby Music. “Gourov is a really close friend of mine, and I have already worked with him on a few more songs, which I am looking eagerly forward to. You will be listening to these songs soon,” he says.
