Music can be born in the most unlikeliest of moments. Just like inspiration, which often comes from the most unexpected quarters. In case of singer-songwriter Sayanti Chatterjee, it was procrastination that led to her first song “Morning Dew”, recently launched on Facebook. 

As she stood in front of a sink full of vessels to be washed at 7am one morning, the dew on the kitchen window distracted Sayanti from the sheer unwillingness to do the chore. She started humming a tune while drawing a face on the dew drenched window. And the song just happened. The lyrics are as simple and spontaneous as ‘I will draw a picture of your face, In the morning dew. Breathe and sigh at these cloudy skies, Thinking about you...’ Yet, when you listen to these words in rhythm, they instantly hit you with nostalgia. Melancholy echoes in Sayanti’s soulful and melodious voice, soaking you in an atmosphere, which is nothing less than dreamy. 

“My music is just the opposite of my personality. Still, heavy and sorrowful,” laughs the bubbly youngster, who’s a self-confessed chatterbox. But Sayanti believes that “pain comes easy”. “People can connect with pain easily and that’s what I want my songs to be all about. Not necessarily painful but believable, and able to form a connection. I am a very emotional person and a big dreamer. And my songs are an extension of me. They are about feelings and I want people to connect with them and enjoy them. Music calms me. It is the only medium through which I express all the chaos in my mind. I am very talkative but not a confrontational person. Hence, my songs convey things that are important to me and things, which I may not say otherwise. So, I will stick to my originals and continue making songs that matter to me,” she elucidates. 

Talking about her initiation into music, Sayanti credits her roots, which belong to the “land of Tagore” (Kolkata) and her musical family, which has always “fostered and encouraged creativity”. Her family gave her the freedom to choose her career path when she decided to explore the music scene in Bombay two and a half years ago. “I went to Bombay to experience the chaos, the madness. It was like jumping right into the storm,” she says, recalling the time she spent in the city of dreams as a struggling musician, singing ad jingles, jamming with musicians and being in the middle of the music. “Unfortunately, the music scene in Bombay is dominated by Bollywood. But it was character building for me. Bombay gave me the opportunity to gather experiences, inspirations and ideas that I now plan to collate in my songs. I got to see the workings and dynamics of the Hindi film industry from close quarters. It was a huge learning curve,” she narrates. It was in Bombay that Sayanti also met her mentor, music teacher and co-songwriter Jennifer D’Souza, who is now “a huge driving force in her life and music”.

At 25, Sayanti dreams of living in a little hut in the mountains, breathing in fresh air, dwelling in the peaceful, still natural surroundings and perhaps, sitting by the window atop the hill and writing songs. “Morning Dew” certainly reflects this dream through a vivid connection with nature. “I draw inspiration from nature, connecting my feelings to it,” she says, adding, “And yes, I absolutely need my bedroom and window. Songwriting is my space. No one interferes. It’s something that is fully in my control. Its freedom from all constraints.” Despite being the outlet for her emotions, Sayanti describes her songs as ambiguous and minimalistic in words. “I can’t say everything. Besides, the beauty of songwriting is to leave things incomplete. Paint the idea and let the listener fill in the dots,” she observes.

Produced by Zorran Mendonsa, “Morning Dew” is available on YouTube, iTunes, spotify, #nwplyng, amazon and rdio.