Bengaluru-based singer-songwriter Frizzell D’Souza. Photo: Prathviraj Shastry
Originally an architect, the concepts that singer-songwriter Frizzell D’Souza picked up in architecture school have informed her second EP In My Asymmetry, released via Kappa Originals in July.
D’Souza recounts being asked if she could write about the “grey spaces” by the label and it led her mind to think about the term and its associated vocabulary in architecture. “Initially, I thought of symmetry as a metaphor for idealism. In classical Greek architecture, symmetry used to mean a thing of beauty, and to the point where the Greek mathematicians would get into mathematical details of buildings so that it would look absolutely perfect,” she says.
The Mangaluru-raised, Bengaluru-based artist calls this idea as “one-dimensional” since buildings have changed over the years. In My Asymmetry, then, is D’Souza’s way about saying “how it’s okay to not be a symmetrical building, like textbook pretty or beautiful.” Across six lush tracks produced by Aadarsh Subramaniam and featuring co-writes with Anirudh Ravi (from indie-folk act Cinema Of Excess), D’Souza explores different forms of love, with the intimacy of lessons learned and learnings to share.
Inspired by the likes of Jacob Collier, Dodie and Lizzie McAlpine and Yebba, there’s a marked, layered approach to the sonic palette of In My Asymmetry that elevates D’Souza’s warming, versatile vocals. She and her producer Subramaniam were conscious of new elements they cam bring to the table, and calls it a “slight elevation” from what she’s done in the past on her 2022 EP The Hills Know Of You.
Songs like “Paintbrushes In The Ground” and “Symmetries” are uplifting, while “Long To Be” comes from D’Souza’s desire to be a dependable friend. The first song that came together was “Paintbrushes In The Ground,” where the artist recalls just trashing the original guitar-and-vocal demo. “Aadarsh said, ‘Let’s take the guitar off the intro,’ because it’s a very predictable element in my sound. I was skeptical, because I didn’t want to become an electronic artist,” D’Souza says with a laugh.
They strike just the right balance on songs like “When Dawn Breaks Again,” an intro to the final song “Keep Me In Meadows” which explores love in the afterlife. Like any singer-songwriter worth their salt, D’Souza comes across as an excellent observer of things, people and perhaps situations as a confidant to turn it into song. When asked if she considers herself a good listener who can mine conversations for songs, she traces it back to architecture once again. “I think observation is the key to forming a good story. I would credit good observation a little bit to architecture because that’s how we started off all of our projects. I feel like that had to do a lot with how I write,” she says.
It helps that D’Souza is driven by catharsis, to the point that if she even has a thought, it’s probably in the form of sentences that can become a song. While some songs on In My Asymmetry are deeply personal, some are other’s stories. It comes with the territory that people begin to speculate, which D’Souza says often causes “nervousness and anxiety” about writing about her own experiences.
There was no apprehension like that on “Mum’s Lullaby,” however. The gentle song is D’Souza’s way of telling her mother she loves her, in a manner as direct as possible since that’s often something Indian families shy away from. The video includes old footage from her childhood shot by D’Souza’s father, showing the artist’s mother and sibling out on a trip to Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bengaluru.
The need to say ‘I love you’ came from seeing her parents – both doctors – turn frontline workers during the global Covid-19 pandemic. There came a point where her parents sat their children down for a serious talk should the worst happen to them, which came as a bolt from the blue for D’Souza.
When she showed her parents the video before release, D’Souza says they were both nostalgically engrossed in the memories from the trip rather than the song’s message. “They’re like, ‘Oh my god, where did you find these videos? And then they said, ‘What song is that playing in the back?’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I’ve got to do another listening session for my parents.”
With the video out now, there’s also another visual planned for “Symmetries.” While D’Souza launched the EP with a gig in Mumbai, there’s a nationwide tour planned for later in the year.
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