For Pune-based singer-songwriter and producer Nida Siddiqui, her debut EP Glimpses is a chronicle of her personal growth, nostalgia, and cautious hope. The EP's title track Glimpses and the single Tread Carefully released recently frame that journey, taking roots in human longing and tentative optimism. 'Glimpses shows a person who longs for a friendship lost, and by Tread Carefully they are a wee bit cautious, but still hold out hope,' Siddiqui says, describing the thematic link between the two songs. Both tracks were written around the same time and share 'a sense of self-awareness, hope and optimism,' she adds, even though 'sonically they are quite different.' As a subtle connection, Glimpses reprises the Tread Carefully guitar hook on piano at the end, a 'fun little easter egg' linking the two, Siddiqui notes.
Music and Meaning
Glimpses captures Siddiqui’s journey as an artist coming into her own. Musically, she sees the EP as a snapshot of growth from her earliest composition to the fully realized sound she has crafted with collaborator Derric D’Souza. 'In the musical sense, it captures my initial journey in music from my first ever piano piece to Derric and I taking an earnest step towards defining our sound,' she explains. 'With this debut, we poured ourselves into every detail, every note, getting almost surgical with the instrumentation and arrangement,' Siddiqui reflects, highlighting the duo’s meticulous approach.
Lyrically, Glimpses is essentially 'a love letter to my twenties; all the longing, belonging and trying to make sense of it all,' as Siddiqui describes. The title track, she adds, 'is a tribute to our beginnings and a glimpse into where we are headed,' inspired by the joy of playing live and the instruments that first made her fall in love with music.
Crafting the Sound
Bringing the songs to life in the studio proved to be Siddiqui’s favorite part of making the EP. 'My favourite part was undoubtedly the production,' she says. 'Every time Derric and I nailed the feeling of a section and figured out how to progress the song, it was unmatched!' She and D’Souza share an ear for subtle details. 'We are both big fans of sweet little underlying melodic hooks that tie a song together,' Siddiqui points out, referring to the motifs woven throughout the record that give the tracks their unity.
In terms of style, Glimpses marries intimacy with a sense of scale. 'I think my songwriting and music has always felt very intimate yet big-band sounding in my head, so bringing that to life with the production has been very fulfilling,' she explains. They were careful not to repeat themselves on the EP, 'we wanted to really challenge ourselves, so the production on every song was very unique,' Siddiqui says of their experimental approach. Yet no matter how eclectic the arrangements, an underlying coherence holds the record together. All the tracks 'come from the same source,' she notes, and 'the concepts and the vocals keep them tied together.'
Honest Reflections and Inspirations
Much of the emotional weight in Glimpses comes from Siddiqui’s own life experiences and introspection. 'A lot of the writing on this record is giving a voice to a younger me that didn’t know how to express herself,' she reveals. With time and perspective, she came to understand 'what was really going on underneath.' Each song explores a facet of that journey toward healing, 'be it friendships lost, opening up emotionally even though it could hurt, becoming avoidant somewhere in the process, and then finding a sense of belonging, safety and community,' as she puts it.
Facing the Feelings in 'Tread Carefully'
The storytelling in Glimpses isn’t confined to sound alone. Siddiqui extends the narrative visually in the music video for 'Tread Carefully,' which reinforces the EP’s message about confronting emotions head-on. 'The music video explores the idea that you can’t outrun your feelings, you have to face them,' she explains. In the video, a trunk appears throughout, symbolizing 'emotional baggage I try to avoid, but ultimately confront,' she says. Writing these songs often felt like that same chase, 'running from a metaphorical trunk till I finally couldn’t,' Siddiqui admits. The trunk itself holds special personal significance. It’s 'a subtle nod to my childhood as the daughter of an Air Force officer who lived in and around trunks till I was 15,' she shares.
Open Horizons Ahead
With Glimpses introducing her artistry to the world, Siddiqui is already looking to the future. She kept writing new material even as the EP took shape, and she hints that those songs will continue the soul-searching narrative and honesty of Glimpses. She hopes to 'join some of the dots [she’s] laid out with the Glimpses EP,' extending storylines and emotional threads from this first release.
When it comes to sound, Siddiqui and her team are 'open to wherever the music needs us to go.' If her debut is any indication, then Glimpses is only the beginning of her story.
Words Harita Odedara
Date 14-8-2025