Come Away is a composition that captures a man at his most vulnerable moment, and to portray the intricacies and dynamics of heartbreak in today’s time, Vishal J Singh deliberately chose to compose the song in the key of C. The key compliments Urmila Sivadas’s naturally low voice and adds a confident and assertive texture to her vocals. This gave a realistic depth to her voice that might make it more identifiable with women today than the high-pitched vocals more usually associated with femininity. On the other hand, Surya Prakash Medhi had to raise his vocal range to match the same key. His voice naturally falls between a baritone and a tenor, but here it goes up to alto and leans towards falsetto. This contrasts his voice with Urmila’s low pitch vocals and exudes a raw vulnerability felt when stepping out of one’s comfort zone, naturally capturing the struggle and unsettlement felt during heartbreak.

About the composition, Vishal says, “I actually wrote this song for a romantic web-series and the story of these two characters was given to me. The Director told me that she will shoot this part of the film based on the track. My first initial thought was – How would you tell a modern love story without visuals but only with music? Not background music but a song that also flows with the dynamic of  background music score’s storytelling? I was told to make something melancholic, slow motioned, cinematic song that symbolises true love and how it hurts. While composing Come Away, I imagined a boy who is vulnerable, feminine, displays emotion and love and who is in pain and a girl who is vulnerable too, but tough, masculine and in control of her display of emotion and care even though she is in more pain than the boy. The film couldn’t be done, and the script was changed. But I just had to finish the song that I had started, more so because I love creating music based on concepts.”

Using a high pitch in male voices to convey heightened emotions and vulnerability is a time tested technique. Kishore Kumar, for example, famously used high pitched falsetto yodeling as an expression of openness, joy and unabashed abandon of youth. It is this seemingly simple nuance that highlights the narrative capacity of Come Away.

Both Surya and Urmila speak of the same sentiments, sung in the same melody. However, while one comes across as rational, mature and in control, the other seems raw, chaotic and emotionally vulnerable. Music makes you feel feelings and lyrics make you think thoughts. It’s intriguing how altering the music in a song changes the way you feel and experience the same lyrics, changing the perception of the song itself.

About Vishal J. Singh

Vishal J.Singh is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, film music composer and producer, known worldwide for his multi-genre band “Amogh Symphony”. He has worked as a music director and composer for many Bollywood films, capped by his work on Anurag Kashyap’s legendary Gangs of Wasseypur series where his contributions included hit tracks like “Womaniya”, “Keh ke lunga feat. Amit Trivedi” and “Bahut khub”.  Vishal has also composed experimental music for a number of European art-films and featured in several tracks by international artists like Mark Hawkins(USA), LVM Trio(USA) with Luke Jaeger, Mad Essence(Ukraine), and more. His remarkable guitar solo which he performed as guest guitarist with Marty Friedman in the song “Celestial” by famous Djent act “Skyharbor” has earned him wide acclaim by the fans of modern progressive metal.

About Surya Prakash Medhi

Surya Prakash is a singer, composer, graphic designer and a Pilot. To give an outlet to his love for music and filming, he and his friends started a YouTube channel in 2010 and have been putting up covers and original music videos since. They were among the pioneer YouTubers in Guwahati and Assam who were invited to the 1st ever YouTube fanfest in India. Surya released his debut Assamese original “Baxobi” in 2018, followed by “Pahorai Diya” in 2020 and “Kiyo Bare Bare” in 2021. He has performed nationally and internationally and has collaborated with various renowned artists.

About Urmila Sivadas

Urmila Sivadas is a vocalist/ songwriter based out of Bombay. Hailing from a South Indian Family, music came early into her life as she started learning Carnatic music at the age of 4. Her foray into Western music began in the form of Pop, Blues, Rock & Roll, and Grunge. This eclectic combination of musical styles developed her early tastes and eventually, she journeyed into the realms of Jazz, R&B, Soul, Funk, and Electronica. These influences leave her standing today, as a versatile vocalist with a penchant for interesting melodies and rhythms with a balance of technicality and feel. She aims to create music that feels good. She spends most of her time writing songs and bettering her newly acquired production skills. She writes about love being her worst habit and somehow still chasing after it like a dog chasing its bone.