Saachi Sen's song 'Dark' speaks to colourism in the South Asian community

I was at Pride in London 2019, watching the main stage when I heard an announcement. The next person on stage was a runner up from Pride’s Got Talent, a South Asian singer Saachi Sen. My ear perked up and I started to pay attention. Saachi’s vocal range caught my attention, the soft beats and way she swayed on stage felt magical. I was so happy to see someone like her representing at Pride.

Sen moved to London from Mumbai when she has started to learn how to talk, explaining her incredibly British accent. But despite moving young, she reminisces about how her mum would keep her in touch with her Indian roots. “We celebrate all the major festivals, and she also introduced me to Hindustani classical music as a child. It's tricky to explain, but that music is something that truly makes me feel connected to my heritage - more than friends, food, or fashion, just hearing that music seems to evoke a sense of home.”

I wanted to know more about her time on Pride’s Got Talent and how she felt having that opportunity, “Pride's Got Talent is an amazing competition, the atmosphere was refreshingly supportive and incredibly inclusive. I heard about it through a promoter I'd been working with for several years, who encouraged my band to apply for the open auditions - we were thrilled to make it through each round, until we found ourselves in the final at Shaftesbury Avenue's Apollo Theatre! The level of performance there was outstanding, so it was awesome to be awarded the runner up spot and have our hard work recognised. It meant we could play two songs on the Trafalgar Square stage at Pride - getting up there in front of 10,000 people was the most surreal experience of my life.”

And that’s where I saw her perform. I wasn’t aware of any other work she did until I came across a new song she released called ‘Dark’. It speaks to the deep rooted issue of colourism in South Asian communities. Sen is aware of the long lasting effects it has, “the fact that they feel the need to comment at all which is damaging - it tells a girl that her self-worth is inherently tied in with her looks, and specifically her skin, which she has no control over whatsoever.”

The skin lightening issue is an ongoing epidemic in our community, journalist Coco Khan did an investigative piece for the Guardian last year that really delved into the corruption and harm this industry is causing. Yet it is still rife today and is embedded heavily in racism, “ I think I've escaped most direct effects of colourism, because by South Asian standards my skin shade is neither here nor there; however I've definitely experienced its equally ugly relative, racism, in different parts of the world. Racist and colourist behaviour can make us doubt ourselves and our own value. I hoped that my song would remind listeners, as it reminds me, that we aren't defined by other people's prejudices.”, Sen confirms.

The song itself is a beautiful anthem, with an uplifting chorus that leads to soft verses, but it wasn’t an easy process to create, “I started recording it last year but struggled a lot with the production on my own; it was difficult to give the song the gravitas it deserved while still offering some interesting pop-style instrumentation to draw the listener in. A month after I got my first mix, I met a girl with a Filipino-Indian background completely by chance in the queue for a music talk. It turned out she was an amazingly talented engineer at the Spotify Secret Genius studio, and she loved an acoustic recording I played her of 'Dark'. I could tell she had truly understood what the song was about. Together with another producer friend from the Abbey Road institute, we re-worked the recording, and 1 year later it's finally done - and I couldn't be happier with it! The life lesson I took from this is to always seize the day - if I hadn't plucked up the courage to turn around and strike up a conversation, I certainly wouldn't be where I am now.”

But that was the production and mix, whereas the message was easier to perfect, “The song itself was written remarkably quickly, because the feelings I wanted to express had been sitting there simmering in my mind for almost my entire life. It ended up as an outpouring of emotions and was really cathartic to finish writing, and even more so to perform for the first time.”

Sen has some exciting things coming up soon, “I've been lucky to find some very talented producers to work with me, and we're having a lot of fun in the studio exploring sounds that are true to my songs, but unapologetically mainstream pop. 'Dark' is fairly laid back in this regard, but is the lead single from the solo pop EP I plan for next year. I can't wait to share it.”

‘Dark’ is a beautiful piece that calls to those who have ever been told to stay out of the sun, that they’re very dark, been told that removing hair will lighten them or that they need to use Fair and Lovely. It’s reaffirming the beauty of dark skin and it’s important that we celebrate it.