Two lines into Hurricane, Chennai-based Nidhi Srinivasan aka Aira paints a stark picture of complex heartbreak. As the song progresses, the music gets as compelling as the lyrics, building gently with an eased deliberation. The teenage singer-songwriter’s depth and clarity of thought refuses to waver, as she weaves more details into the picture of two estranged lovers who are at completely different stages of breaking and healing.
Released recently, Hurricane is Aira’s second single, after Golden Hour in 2021. Both tracks have been produced by Michael Timothy. A low, soft, pop number, Hurricane describes turmoil, numbness and quiet sentimentality with the same degree of matter-of-fact acceptance. To 18-year-old Aira, who has been writing songs since the age of 12, this track also represents a shift in her creative process: “Unlike my usual writing process, Hurricane is a song I have been putting together for months on end. Over the past year I have been constantly revisiting it, going back and forth before sitting down to record it. So when I finally sat down, I was very decisive about what I wanted to do with the track sonically and lyrically. I knew what I wanted it to embody.”
It helped, of course, that she was freed this time from all the doubts and anticipation that come with putting a song out for the very first time.
