Anindya Mukherjee – Paper Boats (2021)
With ‘All I Need’, Anindya Mukherjee celebrated the special people in our lives and expressed the emotions they bring. Through his single ‘Paper Boats’ he focuses on the past and reminisces over a simple childhood where dreams of the impossible are possible. A soft and soulful piano ballad, it moves from fanciful dreams to the reality of growing up.
Accompanying the piano is a minimalistic arrangement of strings, bass and drums. Written during lockdown, the inspiration came from Mukherjee feeling sad about his sons losing a year with their friends. This led to him reminiscing about his own childhood and the way we drift as we grow up.
The piano line that opens ‘Paper Boats’ tumbles through your ears like a bubbling brook. The melody has the feeling of flowing water while the strings bring a tenderness to the soundscape. As the piano drives the music, the strings, drums and bass add a depth and winding feeling to the song. This is dusted with a touch of nostalgia as the vocals cast your mind back in time. The nostalgic hit tints the single in sepia while filling you with the warmth and carefree nature of childhood.
As you ride the waters of the melody, Mukherjee’s vocals rest on the music like a leaf winding its way downstream. His voice is soft like the sun shining through the tree canopy in the woods on a sunny summer day. The nostalgia of the music is enhanced by his vocals but there is a touch of sadness that creeps in. It is a rather bittersweet reminiscence of a time long past that we can never get back to. You can feel the bliss of remembering the fearlessness of youth only to have this tempered by the reality of being an adult and the sobering thoughts this brings.
Anindya Mukherjee fills you with bittersweet remembrance through the piano-driven ballad ‘Paper Boats’. While the music fills you with the warmth and carefree nature of children, the vocals bring a touch of sadness. His vocals touch on the past tempering it with the restrictions of adulthood for a bittersweet mixture.
Find out more about Anindya Mukherjee on his Facebook and Spotify.
