A few months ago, the duo Lil Idli had dropped their first track: a breezy number called Little Girl. As for their sophomore effort, the act has gone down a mellower and more introspective road. Allergic explores the relationship between humans and nature.
The chorus is driven by lines such as ‘The Earth is allergic to you without me’ and ‘let the Earth be’. The lyrics and themes are timely but not preachy enough to induce a yawn. Deepak Gopinath’s calming production while Ranjani Prabhakar’s jazzy vocals are hauntingly beautiful.
The change in tone from Little Girl to Allergic is quite notable. While the former was filled with bubbly energy, this one incorporates a more serious approach. The essence of the song lies in the fact that the Earth and humans should have a symbiotic relationship. When humans forget to reciprocate, chaos is bound to ensue. From Michael Jackson’s Earth Song to Lil Dicky’s Earth, several Western artists have tried to address such themes in interactive ways. It was only given that an Indian diaspora act like Lil Idli would follow suit.
However, the issue in Indian indie-pop has been that most of the ‘songs with a message’ end up getting corny. The artists’ intention might be from a genuine place but their lyrics end up sounding preachy or performative. As mentioned earlier, Lil Idli avoids this and weaves a genuinely moving narrative out of environmental chaos.
An accompanying visual is adorned with some beautiful nature shots featuring Prabhakar singing and posing against strands of grass under soothing skies. The video has been directed by Sanjana Sekhar who also directed the video for their first single Little Girl (which was yet again set in the outdoors).
Verdict: A thoughtful track with commentary on human-environment relations.
