MUMBAI: Many new and exciting Indian pop talents have called Molfa Music home in the past year, including singer-songwriter Ananya Jafa, whose latest single as JAFA, ‘Parchment Skin’, is the final installment of a story that began with her debut single ‘Two Thousand Eighteen’.
In ‘Two Thousand Eighteen’, she wrote about her emotional fragility with ease, while her second single, ‘Words Leave’, was a contemplative verse dedicated to the loss of friendship. Her latest single, ‘Parchment Skin’ is her darkest yet, written from the perspective of someone who is violent and unstable.
Produced by Delhi-based bassist and music producer Gaurav Chintamani, the use of unusual harmonies gives the track a cinematic vibe. “The song has unusual harmonies – more dissonant – used as soundscape… It is an attempt at storytelling, told from the perspective of someone who is violent and unstable,” says JAFA of the song, adding, “It’s a weirder song.”
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The song’s dark theme – You and your parchment skin/ Boiled like old leather/ Still tender/ From beating you last night – finds an echo in the music video too.
The music video, directed by Yuvrajaago – who also directed videos for her first two singles – explores the underbelly of a rotting relationship from the lens of our social media trapped lives. You can watch the video here.
“JAFA’s world has explored multiple varied themes – love, heartbreak and even coming of age tales,” says the young director Yuvraj, adding, “With ‘Parchment Skin’, we’ve extended these worlds to larger territories of psychological dramas and eerie horrors. All three videos have a unique visual language reflective of the characters whose story we’re telling.”
The sum of a quarter Naga, quarter Bengali, quarter Rajput and quarter UP-ite, her influences are just as varied. Introduced to Eminem by her grandfather, who called him a poet, the classically trained singer and pianist is an equally big fan of Kendrick Lamar, Regina Spektor, Jacob Collier, Glass Animals and Taylor Swift.
The creative powerhouse behind projects like Chhello Show, India’s entry for Oscars 2022, and music videos like Prateek Kuhad’s ‘cold/mess’, ‘Doobey’ and ‘Gehrayiaan’, bring their clutter-breaking approach and filmmaking expertise to music, and are focused on creating I-pop (Indian pop) as a global genre with releases from talents like Raman Sharma, gini and JAFA.
“This is exactly what Molfa was built for – intelligent creators, collaborating on high-quality storytelling,” says Dheer Momaya, co-CEO Molfa Music. “Yuvraj (the director) is a world builder, he’s created this highly original triptych, which in our eyes, has pushed the boundary both technically and narratively. The video-series is a real celebration of JAFA’s songwriting persona. ‘Parchment Skin’ is the operatic climax, ‘act 3’ if you may, of this show,” he adds.
‘Parchment Skin’ is now available on all streaming platforms.
About Molfa Music
Molfa Music is an Indian music label that concentrates on looking for young voices across India and building them into youth icons. Molfa music is not just a music label, we are creators facilitating stories that the artists can tell through their music, their image, their videos, and their personas.
Dar Gai will serve as the president and head of creative, while Dheer Momaya and Pranit Sahni will be co-CEOs of this new venture.
The label will be distributed through the extensive network of The Orchard.
