Premiere: Shashaa Tirupati Teams Up with Keba Jeremiah for Passionate Pop Single ‘In My Skin’

Last year when Indo-Canadian artist Shashaa Tirupati was at home in Vancouver, she was writing riffs and melodies on her guitalele. At first, she says she has no idea where the ideas were coming from. She interrupts her train of thought and says, “I mean I do have an idea that they are coming from a lot of heartbreak. But I was just recording it and for some reason, I thought this is what I wanted.”

It led to the creation of her song “In My Skin,” the first single off her five-track debut EP I’m Sorry, Heart. Joined by ace guitarist and composer Keba Jeremiah, “In My Skin” strengthens the envelop-pushing, unconventional pop sound of Shashaa, heard on several singles and collaborations she’s released. The sonic direction, although informed by the stages of a relationship, comes from how “complicated” Shashaa feels as a person. “I have always found it very difficult to express myself. I think I express myself better when I put things down on paper as opposed to when I am talking to people and trying to express what I have to say,” she adds.

Shashaa recorded her ideas and asked Jeremiah to be part of the song, who recorded remotely (but in real-time) from Chennai. The song was tracked once she came back to India. By the singer’s own description, “In My Skin” – which is about the “lovemaking part of a relationship, albeit in the mind” –  starts off soft and intimate, gradually adding rhythms and mirrors a climax. She adds, “Then it calms down into an outro which is back to that intimate space. It’s like a warm hug.”

I’m Sorry, Heart – which will release song by song – details four stages of a relationship, from butterflies in one’s tummy to falling in love, but not getting along and finally moving on. Shashaa adds, “But the catch in this EP is that this isn’t about any relationship with any person. I’m Sorry, Heart is basically an apology to your heart because the EP revolves around a person who is living in a relationship in her mind.” Undoubtedly daunted by her first collection of songs, tied together by a theme, Shashaa likens it to “putting all your eggs in a basket.” She adds that I’m Sorry, Heart is also glued together with a singular sound, which is a leap in terms of listeners perceiving one kind of style from the artist. “Having said that, this is like a dream project for me because I have been wanting to do an EP forever. This one I have had on hold since forever and I’m just looking for the right time, right people and the right team to kind of help bring that to the fore,” Shashaa adds.

The first track is recorded by Avinash Sathish and Vincent Joseph (who also mixed the song) and is mastered by Naweed at London’s Whitfield Mastering.

Listen to “In My Skin” below.