Shruti Haasan in her latest single ‘monster machine’ showcases the feminine side of self-care through the darkness she keeps inside her. In a bid to identify herself as ‘a woman of darkness’, her song explores the draconian concept of witchcraft of being burnt at the stake. Even though the stakes have changed in years. The song expresses her desire to do all that she has not done so far. Moving around a pattern of assaultive dystopian sounds, the music compliments the song’s dark theme. Showcasing four different characters in the music video, Shruti Haasan describes how being burnt at some metaphorical stake lights the fire in a woman.
The music entwines the rhythms of India as well as industrial sounds perfectly placed over the words of a feminine cry of self-love. As to compliment the song’s theme, the melodic notes are dwelling in the lower and mid octaves, bringing out a sense of taboo, that she calls ‘an urban witch’s desires and loving it.’ She describes the verse of the song to be poetry inviting the audience in through a narrative that implies universally. Through the song ‘monster machine,’ she is celebrating a woman’s ambitions, desires, and achievements that they are otherwise deterred from showing.
This is a song that can make the audience dance but also feel like a movie score. Shruti, even in her past songs, has tried to show different sides of feminism and how often a woman gets trapped inside a societal box, sparking a rage she is not allowed to show. The song and the music video will take the audience to a cinematic cycle of different feminine characters of a woman. Each character is called out to care for herself and the urge to fulfill the desires that is labelling her ‘a woman of darkness’.
Shruti’s music influences have always been known and, like in her previous releases, it is evident in this one too. She is a huge metal head and a Rock n Roll fan and is often caught discussing new bands with her peers. Most metal songs by the likes of Slipknot, Meshuggah and Korn are known for showing the rational sides of stories that often go against the popular notions of society. It may involve society, politics, or even a situation that needs the attention of all rational minds. In the song ‘Monster Machine’, Shruti does the same of crying out for the legitimate desires of a woman considered otherwise in the eyes of society. In composing the song, she also realized that she is a better piano player than her dad.
