Exclusive Premiere: Arunachal Artist Anula Namshum Captures Painful Longing in ‘Dream’ Video

Arunachal Pradesh singer-songwriter and composer Anula Namshum speaks the language of the heartbroken as she makes a plea on her debut single “Dream.” Inspired by the likes of Elliot Smith, emo/math-rock band American Football and R&B/hip-hop artist Frank Ocean, Anula sings: “I know I’m difficult/ Oh baby, it’s not an act/ If ever there’s someone who could make me stay/ Always you.”

The song has its origins in a voice recording Anula made about three years ago. She says, “It was bound to get lost among the other recordings, or so I thought. Never in my wildest dream did I think that it was going to turn out to be an actual song.” A YouTuber since 2014 who has been uploading covers on her page, Anula teamed up with artists such as Nisham Pul and Lemuel Mazumder (who contribute guitars and arrangement), producer and singer-songwriter Takar Nabam (who added synths and co-helmed recording with engineer Tania David) and drummer Teji Toko for “Dream.”

Mixed and mastered by Haggai Rongmei (from indie rockers Yesterdrive), there’s an appropriately reverie-like quality to the way “Dream” unfolds, part gentle ditty and part ambient sad-pop. The music video for the song, directed by Anula, puts the spotlight on a woman (Stella Chiba) recollecting her relationship with her partner (Seinzaw Mowke), with a past and present look at the times. A first-time director, Anula laughs about how shooting the video in the peak summer heat of July was “just the icing on the cake” of a very tight filming schedule. Aided by cinematographer Tan Mansai, Anula says their approach was quite simple. “What we did was watch some of my favorite films for inspiration and try re-enacting those scenes to fit into our vision. Since the theme of the song is ‘longing,’ we tried to portray it in the video through dream sequences, flashbacks and the constant clash between a dream and reality,” she says.

With her first single and directorial venture out now, Anula says there’s more music coming up; material that will take her well beyond her previously cemented status as a YouTube covers artist. “I will be putting more of my music out there as much as I possibly can. Maybe the next one will be in my own dialect. [I’m] excited for the future,” Anula says.

Watch the video for “Dream” below.