KOCHI: Kevin Shaji aka Pina Colada Blues has enthralled his listeners in the past with Indian instruments, dream/electro-pop, RnB, hybrid trap, lo-fi, and hip-hop. The composer and producer is back this time with a jazzed up 80s Disco/ Funk-pop track.
His new single, Just Friends, features Bengaluru-based singer-songwriter Kalume, and Double J The Rapper. “I composed the track. Lyrics and vocals were contributed by Kalume. The whole thing happened quite spontaneously. I shared the idea of the song with Double J, who took interest in it and brought Kalume in. It is quite the fun track so we had fun working with it,” says Kevin, who hails from Pathanamthitta.
Just Friends was initially supposed to be in Kevin’s eight-track album ‘Once Upon A Blue Moon’. But it just didn’t feel right for him to put it there, as it didn’t fit the emotion of the discography. “The theme and mood of the track changed a lot since the three of us first discussed it,” says Kevin.
The funk-pop track narrates the story of a guy who falls in love with his friend. The girl, who friend-zones him, uses his love as a temporary pleasure. “No, it is not a story from my life,” quips Kevin. The great blend of piano, electric guitars, drums, bass and synth will make you want to shake a leg to this four-minute track. “Though I listen to a lot of 80’s music, this is the first time I got to work on a retro track. I tend to make music that I like to hear, because if it is pleasing to me, then I know it’ll be appealing to most of my listeners,” says Kevin.
Just friends, being his third English track after the chill pop, ‘Vibin’ and the hip-hop track ‘Dreamer, ‘ the 23-year-old aims to continue work in the regional pop spectrum—Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. Being a Malayalam pop artist, Kevin wants to bring fresh sounds that are appealing to a mass audience. The artist is one among the three south Asian artists to get signed with Sony Music India’s new label ‘Day One’.
Listen on YouTube: Pina Colada Blues