Hear Chennai Artists Krishna.K and AKR Create Expansive Pop on ‘Butterflies’

With contrasting approaches to songwriting, artists Krishna Karthikeyan aka Krishna.K and Anniroodh Kumararaja aka AKR found themselves reaching an enchanting middle ground of folk-pop on their collaboration “Butterflies.”

Krishna, who has released his seventh single now, knows AKR from their days spent in the music room at school in Chennai about four years ago. While Krishna sticks to ukulele, bass and vocals, AKR often digs into grandiose melodies and layers, with a flair for the cinematic. Krishna says, “He’d have all these incredible ideas and I’d say, ‘Yes, but much less.’ He’d be like, ‘Okay, got it.’”

With songs coming from a personal space, Krishna says he had never let other people be part of that experience to collaborate, but AKR being a very close friend helped matters. “This was written the exact same way as the others, but with this I was hearing things that only AKR and people of that amazing level can bring,” Krishna says.

The track arrives right after Krishna was brought on board to lend vocals for “Maayangal,” the lead song from Tamil anthology/romance film Kutty Story. Featuring music composed by Karthik (a singer who’s been a staple in the South Indian film music industry since the early 2000s), Krishna says he got picked by total fluke, when a friend – a son of the film’s co-director – was hearing the music and shared it with his father. “It was mind-blowing to work with Karthik. I’ve idolized him for the longest time and he’s very supportive of independent music. That made me feel like I don’t have to choose between industries or dedicate time to any one side. I just have to do music,” Krishna says.

Coming into the world of music with the concern that he may be misgendered or that people may overlook everything else and focus on Krishna’s gender, the singer-songwriter says he’s didn’t have any of those issues. “I had to think about what is safe and what is good and bad exposure, before. But with this project, it was super safe. Moreover, musically I learnt through every session,” Krishna says.

There are more movie projects that Krishna is taking on, alongside a three-track EP that will release by the middle of the year. He says about the EP, “I did three songs for high school. I graduated ‘A’ Level in music in school, so I thought they were good enough to put out. It’s all ukulele, bass and voice but it’s okay, ‘cause I got an ‘A’ [grade] for it.”

Listen to “Butterflies” below. Stream on YouTube, Apple Music and JioSaavn.