Melancholy love songs have always been Anupam Roy’s forte. Nei tumi aager moto, the new single by him, which explores universal themes of love, loss, longing, and the fragility of relationships, is a complex composition in which poignant thoughts lie buried within the framework of its deeply personal lyrics.

The agonising outburst of a betrayed or jilted lover, its songwriting process reflects a nuanced understanding of emotional vulnerability. Nei tumi aager moto is characterised by its plaintive lyrics, which grapple with the problems of unacknowledged love. In it, the singer is conscious of being rejected by the woman he loves, but finds it hard to accept it or to forget her. A break-up ballad, it is heavy with the sensuous memories of the woman who loved him once; a remembrance that makes it harder for the heartbroken lover to emotionally let go.

Raw and visceral emotions of the singer are expressed in every drum beat and guitar riff of the song, expressing his anger, dejection, frustration and hopelessness. Musically, the track is a quintessential piece of his oeuvre, embodying the soaring melodies and rock-infused rhythms that defined his early career, right from his Hemlock Society days.

The music video shows Anupam, the singer, driving a car all alone at night as if escaping from his past. Yet he lands up in those very places where he had spent beautiful, romantic moments of togetherness with his former lover. His body language, initially calm and composed, reveals his inner chaos and bitterness during the moments when the haunting chorus plays out as a refrain. The ruined, dilapidated mansion he roams about aimlessly symbolises his own state of mind, which is broken, fragmented and falling apart. Towards the end of the video, as Anupam tears her old letters and photographs to bits and then sets them on fire, the song reaches its crescendo, restlessness and desperation clearly visible in the eyes of the singer.

Anupam’s original track comes after the version of Nei tumi aager moto sung by Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury for the soundtrack of Srijit Mukherji’s Killbill Society, a song that resonated deeply with the film’s themes of despair, vulnerability and emotional crisis.