Pop Artist Varun Jain On His Journeying New Song ‘Raaste’

Singer-composer Varun Jain celebrates journeys and wandering on his nostalgic, heartwarming new Hindi song “Raaste,” which released this week as part of song series Mic Test, via the digital platform and label KaanPhod.

Jain, who first garnered major listenership on YouTube for his distinctly smooth covers of Bollywood singer Arijit Singh’s tunes, has since gone on to work with major labels on commercial Hindi pop songs as well as a duet with Rekha Bhardwaj on “Vedha Sajjeya,” off the Sachin-Jigar composed soundtrack for Bollywood movie Hum Do Hamare Do. “Every association is different in its own way. The best thing I loved about KaanPhod is the freedom they provide to artists to compose music on their own terms, whatever & whichever way one loves,” Jain says about his latest partnership. He adds, “As an artist I have always wanted to publish my original music. I’m grateful to KaanPhod for giving me this platform and definitely I am overjoyed.”

The airy electronic-pop song is crafted right out of something a veteran like Singh would helm, but Jain infuses modern flourishes as composer and vocalist. The lyrics – written by Udit Shandilya – and the cadence of “Raaste” oscillate between the wisdom of an old soul and the optimism of a young persona. Jain says about the song, “I was going through a rough patch in my life when I was confused and anxious about what to choose between my work and passion. I decided to follow my passion and see where it takes me and this is how I wrote ‘Raaste.’ Its literal meaning is to go with the flow, do whatever your heart wants. And I guess I did the right thing.” He adds about the production, “Generally, I love to keep my production mild but this time I thought to try something new with my music so made a blend of mild arrangement with a touch of EDM.”

The music video – directed by Sanjna Krishnan and Rohan Shetty (also a singer-songwriter in his own right) of Last Bite Films – sees Jain in front of the camera for the first time, alongside the female protagonist Shyamolie Parikh. The singer-composer says about acting for the first time, “I won’t lie – at first, I was quite skeptical about doing the role but then I thought to give it a shot. To my surprise I really enjoyed the process and got the chance to learn so many new things and meet new people.”

Jain joins previous Mic Test releases via KaanPhod, including dancer turned rapper Flying Machine aka Yung Fly (“Brand New”) and singer-composer Prateek Gandhi (“Main Roiyaan”). “I have some singles lined up. I have also sung playbacks for some movies and worked on my originals simultaneously,” he adds.

Watch the video for “Raaste” below.