Hip hop
After years of trying to make it, Renao was finally pushed into a corner. Real name Rahul, he’s originally from Bangalore in India, but travelled across the globe to Leeds in search of a career in music. With the UK government breathing down his neck, he started uploading snippets of music to TikTok as a means of supporting his visa application.
Remarkably, the internet flocked to him in support. Gaining an army of followers, his recent single ‘Break It Down’ was a signal of intent – finessed, flowing electronic pop music that stayed lodged in your mind for days on end.
New single ‘Lifeline’ amplifies his promise still further. Penned alongside Josh Grant, the ideas swirling around his creative cosmos, before the introduction of producer Zach Nahome – who has also worked with slowthai and PinkPantheress – brought the song into sharp focus.
The lyrics deal with the anxiety and thrilling chaos of a new relationship, but ‘Lifeline’ hinges on Renao’s impeccable performance. Confident, mellifluous and melodic, there’s also a pang of melody, a faint flavour of self-doubt in there, too.
Renao explains…
“This song is about the anxiety and chaos that usually sets in with new relationships. It’s the tension between two people who are in love and fear never being together forever. I think with endless choices in finding the one in modern day romance we fail to treasure true love and when we do really find it we spend all our time worrying about losing that person and not really taking it all in and being present. This song depicts worrying and wanting a lifeline, and realising that lifeline doesn’t exist.”
Relta directs the neon-tinted video, which pans between different windows in the hotel building, overlaying their personal narratives while seeking out some unified meaning.
Renao continues…
“This video serves two purposes. It’s chaotic in a way as each scene gets weirder and weirder to represent the chaos when chasing certainty. But also it’s the first time people get to see my life experiences in a video. From a young boy playing badminton to a DJ (which references my dance music days) to an Indian man making my favourite Indian sweet. There’s also two men holding up my passport and trying to kick me out of the country.”
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: BLACKKSOCKS
