Frizzell D’Souza on Turning a ‘Red Flag Parade’ Into Her New Song ‘My Last Cigarette’

One YouTube comment on Frizzell D’Souza‘s new song and video “My Last Cigarette” particularly stands out for the singer-songwriter. She quotes, “If this is what it feels like to quit, I’m never going to stop.” The Bengaluru-based artist laughs about how someone thought it was about smoking, and not about breaking it off with a narcissist. “Like ummm, not at all how I thought it would be interpreted,” she says.

The misinterpretation is perhaps understandable given how the song has taken on a life of its own since D’Souza first performed it in Goa back in November 2022. After two years of audiences requesting the track at every show, “My Last Cigarette” has finally arrived—with a cheery sound aided by a full band and producer Aadarsh Subramaniam, complete with a music video directed by filmmaker Anurag Baruah that leans into the absurdity of toxic relationships.

“I wrote [it] right as I was coming out of a really shitty situation,” D’Souza recalls. “I remember escaping to Goa to clear my head, I finished the song there and ended up performing it at a gig. The response was hilarious, because everyone found it so painfully relatable.”

The track quickly became a staple of her live sets, with D’Souza arranging it with her band and watching as audiences began requesting it long before she’d even taken it to the studio. “So in a way, this release feels like closing the loop,” she explains. “The song came from such a raw, eventful time, and since people have been waiting on it for so long, I decided to go all out with a music video and tour.”

Unlike her usual process of taking songs straight from bedroom demo to production, D’Souza knew “My Last Cigarette” needed something grander. The lyrics reference a marching band—“because the guy was basically a red flag parade,” she laughs—making it impossible not to pursue that big-band sound.

“I’m lucky to have some stellar musicians around me, and arranging it with them was honestly one of the most fun parts of the process,” she says. The challenge, however, came with the financial realities of recording a live band. “Recording a live band at high quality is still a pretty big investment, especially in the streaming era, where the returns aren’t exactly immediate. But it felt worth it for the track and we were happy with what we achieved finally.” The song features producer Subramaniam on keys, guitarist Blesswin, drummer Jason Sharat, bassist Surya Kalyan, saxophonist Gautam David, Jason Zac on trumpet.

If you go by release chronology, “My Last Cigarette” comes across as a swerve to a big sound after the lush soft-rock sound of her 2024 EP In My Asymmetry. D’Souza, however, wrote this new song before In My Asymmetry. “o in a way the EP was me experimenting more lyrically and sonically than I normally do,” she says. “‘My Last Cigarette’ still feels very intuitive to my style, but what’s different this time is the production—it’s more refined and intentional than what I might have made two years ago.”

The music video, directed by filmmaker and photographer Anurag Baruah, follows a vivid story about walking out of toxic relationships and adds elements like drama, interpretive dance, and D’Souza and her band performing the song. Eagle-eyed fans might also catch a visual callback to “Diana,” her previous collaboration with Bengaluru band Derek & The Cats.

“The visuals for this song went through about four sequels’ worth of ideas in my head,” D’Souza says. “Most of my music so far has been pretty introspective and melancholic, but with this one I really wanted to let loose and lean into something a bit silly.”

Working with actors for the first time—Eisha Shetty playing a younger version of herself and Nishanth G. as the narcissistic ex—brought unexpected intensity to the shoot. “I remember one particularly sinister take where Nishanth was so convincing that the whole crew just froze; it felt a little too real,” she recalls. “I kept ducking out of the room to avoid getting triggered, which is funny now, but in the moment, it was intense.”

The final video strikes the balance D’Souza was after, which she sums up as “playful on the outside, but still rooted in very real experiences.”

2025 has already seen D’Souza expand her horizons with her first playback experience with the song “Oru Kana (Reprise)” on the Tamil film 3BHK, collaborating with singer-composer Amrit Ramnath and actor Siddharth. “I was in the middle of a hectic week and literally scribbled the verse in an auto on the way to my producer’s studio to record,” she says of the whirlwind process. “Being trusted with a brief like that felt really reassuring, and I’d definitely be excited to do more film songs in the future.”

Looking ahead, D’Souza sees her music following a similar path to “My Last Cigarette,” one that’s “old-school at heart, written and recorded with the band.” When asked about the challenges of being an independent singer-songwriter in India as of 2025, her response is tellingly brief. “Writing music has always, always been the easiest part about being an independent artist,” she says.

D’Souza kicks off a country-wide tour on Sept. 16, 2025, in Pune, with stops in Mumbai on Sept. 18, New Delhi on Sept. 19, before concluding in Bengaluru on Oct. 25. The tour will also see her heading to Music Matters Singapore on Sept. 26 for a showcase performance with her band, representing India alongside Nagaland rock act Trance Effect.

“Typing this out from the same bedroom in my Mangalore home where I wrote my first few songs and it just feels weird to process because, what the heck,” she shared about the Singapore showcase in an Instagram post. “But beyond all this, I’m so grateful for the people I get to do this with and because of—you know who you are. I’ll be traveling with my band boys, absolutely can’t wait.”

As for the potential of reaching a global audience with her English-focused songwriting, D’Souza remains grounded. “I’m aware of the global audience potential but I doubt it really ever influences the music-making process,” she says. “I grew up on a lot of Western classic pop and rock so it seeps into my writing pretty naturally. If and when my music reaches that audience, it’ll be an exciting moment for sure!”