Second Sight Deliver Delightful New Single ‘Dim Lights’

Earlier this year, Mumbai singer-songwriter duo Second Sight – consisting of musicians Anusha Ramasubramoney and Pushkar Srivatsal – released a Latin-jazz track called “Shallow Waters.” As they mixed and produced the song themselves, the pair soon realized that they needed to take matters into their own hands while living through a pandemic, if they wanted to have an album ready by next year. “With a very limited budget, we started figuring how to make this happen within our means,” says Srivatsal.

With their backs to the wall, the acoustic outfit set out to work on their material and are now out with the terrific “Dim Lights,” the first single from their forthcoming full-length debut LP, out next year. A live staple at gigs over the last couple of years, “Dim Lights” like most Second Sight songs began acoustically before the band fleshed it out. Ramasubramoney says, “Producing and mixing it by ourselves afforded us a lot of flexibility and the luxury of experimentation.”

According to the band, lyrically, “Dim Lights” is a commentary on the human tendency to put each other down, whether trolling on social media or the parody of television journalism. While Second Sight initially penned the track after seeing how musicians judge other artists for their choices in music, Srivatsal says, “But while working on the song we realized that it’s pretty apt too for TRP (Television Rating Point) mongering the TV news anchors indulge into, and the fake news they’ll spin just to make sure they get more eyeballs than the next guy.”

The song includes plenty of jazzy elements, tasty vocal harmonies by Ramasubramoney and Srivatsal, a tight bass groove from Ralph Menezes, airy keyboard parts by Jaykrishnan Unnithan and syncopated drumming courtesy of Jigar Shah. Srivatsal also contributed with guitar and synth parts too while Second Sight roped in saxophone player Shirish Malhotra to add to the song as well. “The saxophone, which adds such a great texture to the song, wasn’t even part of the track until much later into the mix process, when I thought that the instrumental section needed some kind of a top-line solo or something. Now the sax seems like such an integral part of the song,” says Ramasubramoney. The song was mastered by Thomas Juth.

Second Sight plan on releasing three more singles before their album drops in August 2021. The record will be filled with a variety of sonic elements. Most of the material is from the pair’s live repertoire. Ramasubramoney says, “It feels good to finally record them and put them out in the world.” She adds, “Plus it’s the first time we’re releasing a bunch with our band, we’re quite excited.”

Stream “Dim Lights” on platforms and watch the lyric video below.