One of the catchiest — and most comforting — numbers to come out of Chennai this year is a joint project by Manchild (Sachin Rajeev) from Kochi and Michael Timothy from Chennai, both based in the city. “I wrote the song in 2020, when I and a lot of people my age were going through a really hard time for personal and professional reasons. So I wrote about the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Manchild.
At the end of a particularly haranguing day in June, Manchild turned to Instagram live and played ‘Better’. It was 3.30 am, but Michael was awake and heard him. “He sang the Malayalam version that night, so I didn’t understand it that much, but I still felt something because of the song. I called him after he wrapped up his live and said, ‘I don’t know what you plan to do with the song, but whatever it is, I want to produce it’.”
