The pop artist’s first English single in two years has its origins in the time she spent refining her sound during pandemic lockdowns
Ananya Birla
Ananya Birla’s latest song “Caught Up” gets into the deliberations of a relationship gone sour, over afrobeats and pop production, with a smattering of Indian percussive elements and vocal harmonies.
Her first English single since 2021’s “Do It Anyway,” Birla wrote “Caught Up” during the pandemic when she was away from home. She says in a statement, “I wanted to find a way to bring that taste of India into my soundscape in a non-stereotypical, integrated kind of way. After months of iteration, when we finally got it, I just knew it felt right! ‘Caught Up’, is the first song in this new soundscape and I absolutely cannot wait for all of you to hear it and everything that’s to come.”
For her latest song, Birla enlists songwriters Kimberly Krysiuk aka Kaydence (whose credits include Beyonce and Ariana Grande) and Trevor Muzzy (who has worked with Lady Gaga and Jason Derulo), plus production from M.A.R.S. There’s a bit of R&B influence, going over the buoyant Afrobeats treatment given to “Caught Up,” in which Birla acknowledges how she and her partner are essentially bad for each other. It’s part cautionary tale and part Uncomfortable truth explored through the song and the music video, which plays on metaphors of black and white running like parallel universes of a relationship.
“Caught Up” follows Birla’s more India-centric singles like “Yaari,” “Kya Karein” (with singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari) and the wedding-themed love song “Teri Meri Kahani.” In February, Birla released a Punjabi electronic-pop song “Dil Karda,” with Indo-Canadian producer Rahul Sathu and lyrics by Kumaar.
Watch the video for “Caught Up” below.
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