Watch Electronic Pop Duo XY’s Cinematic Video for Debut Single ‘Show Me The Way’
The Mumbai pair produced the clip remotely from their home during the lockdown
Mumbai-based electronic pop duo XY. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
When Mumbai-based electronic pop duo XY – comprising musicians Anirban Das and Mriganka Bhattacharjya – decided to shoot a video for their dreamy debut single “Show Me The Way,” things didn’t go quite as planned to begin with. Das says, “The terrace of our building was open, and we used that without permission and got caught.” However, the artist explains that they rode their luck without any consequences and were able to get done with the video.
Das and Bhattacharjya initially met each other while attending a sound engineering course at The Media Tribe in Mumbai. They gravitated towards each other because of their common admiration towards English musician Steven Wilson. “We would present new demos every other day instead of the assignments,” says Das. He adds, “We knew we had something good going on.”
XY penned “Show Me The Way” last year during the lockdown. Due to their laptop not working, the artists borrowed their flatmate’s MacBook, only for that to conk off as well. “Thankfully we had a backup of the project file on a hard disk but we did not have another Mac to export the stems,” explains Das. The band then got in touch with a friend from Media Tribe, Salil Hangekar, who exported the song for them. To add to the tragicomedy, the band only realized that they didn’t re-track their vocals before the song was mixed by Udayan Dharmadhikari. Das says, “The rough vocals became the final vocals.”
Lyrically, the song is about getting away from the negativity that surrounded the lockdown while the band toyed with ambient elements, guitar arpeggios and spacey grooves as well as meditative vocals that complement the music to a tee. “We believe the lyrics depict the romantic relationship of a person with his soul,” says Das.
For the track’s accompanying video – directed by Abodid Sahoo – the band are seen playing the song through a ring light as well as on the aforementioned terrace alongside beautiful hues. Performing artist Sourav Sharma also adds to the video with graceful movements. Das says, “This video really taught us how to make the best use of every little thing that you have already available with you.”
Next, the duo is planning on releasing a single every couple of months this year. They also want to put out an EP and merch. “Our plan is to digitally release as much content as possible until the world comes back to normal, and then we could go touring to support our singles and EP,” says Das.
Watch the video below:
