Dhee’s new single 'Vari Vari' pairs happy, pop-leaning sonics with quietly melancholic lyrics about loss and the search for one’s inner child. Set against grainy visuals of Sri Lankan fields, the song, produced by Santhosh Narayanan, emerges from an emotionally grounded, creatively safe space the duo have built together.
Singer Dhee’s latest song, Vari Vari, begins with images of two children playing in the fields of Sri Lanka, as the grainy visuals work overtime to evoke a strong sense of yearning. “It’s a happy-sounding song, but if you pay attention to the lyrics, it’s melancholic," the singer tells The Hollywood Reporter India. "It’s a fun space to be in, and it’s a song that’s about losing something or someone…but by the end of it, you realise that it’s a piece of yourself that you’re looking for. Like how we long for our inner child.”
The video continues with Dhee sitting on the back seat of an old red car as it passes by long winding roads. And this red little car is being driven by Santosh Narayanan, who also produced the song. “Sonically, it’s the most pop appa (Santhosh Narayanan), and I have gone in the indie space. But it has all the elements we’re inspired by and those we love in our music.”
Dhee says the idea was to always remain emotionally grounded while making the song. “If you notice, all our songs have this emotional flourish towards the end, but it’s not the result of a definite plan or anything. The process is organic, and when we sit down to jam on an idea, it always happens very naturally.”
She finds “small pockets of time” to collaborate with Santosh, given how busy he is with film work. “I, too, need my own time to write my songs, and when I present it to him, we want to see it grow with our own ideas. But these jamming sessions are never not fun!” she insists. She compares these musical sessions to that of “getting our zoomies out,” an emotional and creative safe space where all ideas are welcome. “Songs like Vari Vari are results of that safe space.”