Exclusive Premiere: Inalab Addresses Violence Against Women on New Single ‘Help Me Fly’

Two years ago, New Delhi bassist Gaurav Balani (from veteran rockers Parikrama) began his very own collaborative project called Inalab. “I’ve been writing songs for a while but I started releasing them under the name of Inalab in 2016,” says Balani. The bassist’s debut offering was the jazzy electro-rock track “Bonzo” featuring New York-based vocalist Julie Hill. The song was followed up by two more singles, the melancholic “Illuminate” and the melodic rock instrumental “Say Your Prayers.”

On how Inalab functions, Balani says, “Essentially with every song I collaborate with a different artist so literally every track has one or more featured artists.” The musician is now back with his latest single, “Help Me Fly,” with Mumbai vocalist Apeksha Dandekar.

“Help Me Fly” leans more towards a contemporary pop sound with a smooth bass line and an energetic groove courtesy of Mumbai-based drummer Jai Row Kavi, while Dandekar’s vocals glide seamlessly throughout the song. Balani tells us that he usually stays away from writing lyrics as it doesn’t come naturally to him. “The lyrics and vocal melody was all done by Apeksha.” Ask the bassist what message he and Dandekar wanted to convey through the song and he says, “Essentially the song is about violence against women in general and not just any specific country and how it has been around forever.”

The new single is also accompanied by a music video. In the clip”“directed by New Delhi videographer Abhinav Kakkar”“a woman (portrayed by New Delhi artist Anusha Sawhney) is seen dancing interspersed with footage of her hands tied and being suffocated. Balani says, “It’s a really abstract video, the whole vibe was to show good and evil and it’s shown from one persons perspective after having gone through and witnessed such horrific incidents.” He adds, “The whole point was to show the victory for good over evil and this one person dealing within herself and pulling herself out so that she can actually live her life normally.”

“Help Me Fly” was recorded at Mumbai’s Audio Garage Studio and mixed and mastered by New Delhi’s Keshav Dhar. Next, Balani plans on hitting the stage with Inalab in September. He says, “Before it was just me with a bass and laptop, now I am taking the whole set live with a band.”