Singer-Songwriter Tanzeel Khan on the 'Leap of Faith' He Took with Debut Album ‘Dastaan'

Lo-fi and chill hip-hop rule the content creator turned musician's songs, which includes a collaboration with singer AKASA

- ANURAG TAGAT

MIRRORING LIFE'S UPS AND downs, singer-songwriter Tanzeel Khan's debut album Dastaan has seven songs (and one interlude) that the artist says can be heard like days of the week. That explains why he wanted to put out each song a music video. Released in full earlier this month, Dastaan brings forward a tender, openhearted songwriter like Khan, who had previously amassed a following on YouTube for affable, quirky vlogger content.

He says over a Zoom call about making a visual album, “I wanted to show people the messages of my songs not just with what they may feel by listening to the audio, but also through videos.” Working with his team and getting their inputs to match the theme of each song, Khan shot in several locales for music videos off Dastaan. A record that follows themes of finding love but also eventually dealing with heartbreak, emotionally heavy songs like “Yeh Dil” and "Socha Nahi Tha" sees Khan in the city, driving as well as at a bar drowning his sorrows. For “Khwahish," Khan and his beloved get away to the hills and shoreside, whereas the acoustic ditty “Falsafa" sees him in the snowcapped locales of Himachal Pradesh.