Hear Postcard17’s Mellow Acoustic Debut Single ‘Fly’

After plying his trade in school bands as a 16-year-old, Kerala-based singer-songwriter Ananthu Balakrishnan counts those early years with music as “fun and satisfying.” Since then, he went on to earn a degree in Psychology and slowly crept back into music in 2019 by posting clips of his songs over on his Instagram. He says, “Due to personal struggles with career confusion, the pandemic and fixing poor mental health it took a year and a half to get my first ever song released.” That song is the poignant acoustic ditty titled “Fly,” out under his moniker Postcard17.

According to Balakrishnan, the song deals with the loss of a loved one and how longing for them makes people believe in miracles and illusions. “The song is sung from the dead person’s perspective.” The track opens with light strumming on an acoustic guitar, delicate cello parts, reverberating keys as well as the singer-songwriter’s emotive vocals. “It is raw, unpolished and haunting yet graceful,” says the artist.

Balakrishnan teamed up with animators Aswin Lal and Alpana Poyyail for a beautiful sketched video depicting the story of the song with human figures. As for the song itself, the musician recorded, mixed and mastered it at Kishan Sreebal’s home studio in Kochi. While he currently fleshes out his next single, Balakrishnan is also eager to get musicians onboard to turn Postcard17 into a full-fledged band.

Watch the video for “Fly” below and click here to stream the song on other platforms.