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Tanmaya Bhatnagar’s New Music Video Is An Exploration Of Self-Love

Samiksha Chaudhary

Most young creatives turn to art and music in an attempt to make sense of their lives, drawing inspiration from real life events. Art has often functioned in this sense of duality of creation and catharsis.

Like many singer-songwriters of this generation, New-Delhi based Tanmaya Bhatnagar’s songs too are thematically based on her personal experiences. Drawing inspiration from artists like Patrick Watson, Bon Iver, Elliott Smith, Lucy Rose, Billie Marten, and her mother being her main source of inspiration, her work is a tender and evocative exploration of her own emotions.

Exploring themes like heartbreak, self-love, and relationships, her songs touch upon melancholy, with her melodic and sombre vocals adding to the calm and soothing atmosphere that her music creates.

Her latest single, Wherever I Go, I’d Like To Be All I Need is no different. With a music video to accompany the title track of her EP, the song describes a deep desire to feel whole, validated, and happy with oneself. The song and the music video are an attempt to come to the realisation that one shouldn’t depend on others to feel understood and that we should always try to listen to our inner voice. Leaving behind traces of her, Tanmaya would like to be remembered by these words.

The music video brings out the contrast between moments of self-acceptance and being at peace with nature to the inner turmoil and chaos that moments of doubt bring to scenes of city life. It is a magnificent collaborative effort of some of the best indie Indian directors, cinematographers, and editors in the country - Pratik Punjabi, Parv Dandona, and Aastha Singh along with colour grading by Yulia Bulashenko (known for having colour graded music videos for artists like Future + Drake, Sia + Diplo + Labrinth and George Ezra). All of it is an honest reflection of the journey of self-love; one that isn’t linear and is fraught with moments of doubt as well as moments of acceptance.

Audio Credits: Ghar Ka Studios, Amar Pandey and Ritwik Dey

Backing Vocals: Subhadra Kamath

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