Raghav Mathur makes comeback with 'Maayera'

Canada-based R&B singer and performance artiste Raghav Mathur aka Raghav, whose "Can't get enough" and "Angel eyes" became chartbusters in the early 2000s, is back with an Indian pop ballad called "Maayera".

The song, out on Saavn Artist Originals (AO) on Wednesday, reflects his history and experience with Indian pop music combined with a distinct Bollywood melody.

"It's like a Hindi classic reggae, country song," Raghav told IANS over phone from Calgary.

"I have almost been on a mission to sort of reintroduce listeners to pop and give them options to hear... The basis of how my career started is very seeped in Bollywood and Indian culture, but it has also got elements of my actual love for R&B. That sound seems to have kind of maybe not disappeared... but the extent to which you have many different flavours in Indian music, it did disappear for sometime," he said.

Raghav wrote "Maayera" as a raw, pop, island-sounding tune. It is about a break-up that feels wrong and unnecessary, a torturous conflict that is illustrated in the music video, which features a poignant back-and-forth between nonsensical loneliness and the couple's happier days.

Actress Priya Banerjee, who featured in the film "Jazbaa", stars in the video which was shot in Calgary.

"It's Raghav's big comeback song after his last album 'The Phoenix' (2012) and I know that this will be a sure-shot hit," Priya said.

The emotion of the song is rooted in the pain Raghav felt missing his family while he toured the world and built his career.

He says having a daughter impacted his style of songs.

"They became less about partying and more about melancholy," quipped Raghav, who in early 2012 had collaborated with A.R. Rahman and Shilpa Rao for a song in "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", and with Rahman again for the song "Mawalli Qawalli" for the film "Lekar Hum Deewana Dil".

His new track, he says, reflects his nostalgia for Bollywood music of the 1970s and 1980s.

"This is vintage Bollywood with a modern bassline."

--IANS

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