Photo Credit: Sabarish, Styled by Kanmani
Chennai based Sarah Black’s personal approach to song-writing is what sets her apart. She views her music as a reflection of herself, her life and the people in it. Having been introduced to music when she was just nine, Sarah’s relationship with singing goes deep. So deep, that she cannot remember her life before music. Her sonic landscape varies from genre-bending Tamil music, to R&B and electronic pop. She considers her lyricism sacred and creates worlds using her music and everyday life experiences.
Sarah has always felt at home performing; whether it was singing, acting or dancing. Her single Red is the perfect culmination of these interests, with a stunning music video and rusty vocals. In her words, this single is a ‘Break Up Cheater Anthem’, shoving aside all stereotypes about sad, mopey break up music. The imagery of a man’s head being dumped into a bucket of water, which the music video features, is just the kind of bold, tongue-in-cheek symbolism that defines Sarah’s artistic voice. It is playful but also powerful, turning heartbreak into a musical spectacle.
The Beginning
I come from a musical family, music runs in the genes, it was like I had this urge to be the centre of attention, in a good way. I always sang and put up shows as a kid and would make my family sit down for hours. I recently had an experience where I sang a song for my family; this time they sat on their own. I felt content. Like I had made little Sarah proud.
Finding Her Sound
I’ve been experimenting a lot to find my sound the last two years and I’ve finally found it. It’s ever changing. Whatever I go through, at that specific time in my life, is what you hear as lyrics. What I feel is what you feel in the music of each song. Recently, I’ve written some really great music that I am very much in love with. That I, as an artist, am not tired of hearing again and again. That’s pretty rare when it comes to us, you know? Writing and composing songs is easy, releasing them is the hard part. You’re gonna slowly hear all my music. Very slowly, you’ll know who Sarah Black is and what she stands for.
The Writing Process
I write whenever I feel like it, basically whenever I feel any emotion whatsoever. My lyrics are very sacred to me. I draw inspiration from real life events mostly. Sometimes I let you in my world. Sometimes I create a world for myself. It differs from time to time.
Raathiri
Reyan reached out to me saying he had me in mind for a song. It was pretty smooth, he sent the track over with his completed vocals, I loved the vibes and I wrote mine over it and composed my melodies over it, did some fun vocal stacks and sent it back over. Raathiri has had an amazing crowd response. Reyan and I have been thinking about making a music video.
Red
I had Red’s vision in my head when I went up to Ken Royson to ask him to direct it. I said I wanted to dump a dude's head in water. Rest, Ken took care of. He knows my personality off screen and he beautifully brought it to the screen. It’s a Break Up Cheater Anthem and I really hope it gets the attention it deserves.
Falling in Love with Performance
I’ve always loved performing. Be it dancing, acting, singing. I’ve always felt most at home there. I’ve felt most alive whilst I’m making art. Whilst I’m bringing a character to life. It’s been this urge that I’ve had since I was a kid and because I always knew what I wanted, I didn’t let anyone tell me I was doing too much. If I was asked to pick between acting and singing, I wouldn’t be able to.
Indie Music in India and The Future
Personally, I feel like the indie scene in India is missing the right audience. They have a mob mentality so they’d rather listen to what the masses are listening to. There’s so many amazing artists that have the right audience but not a lot of audience, if you know what I mean. I’m working on having fun with writing and making my songs, somewhere along the way, it started turning into stress. I’m working on releasing them. It’s a process; I’m smack dab in the middle of the process, so I’m just staying put, I’m focussing on doing shows the next few months with side by side releases as well. I’m working on all of me so I can be everything I want to be.
This is an article from the November 2025 Bookazine. For more such stories, purchase the Bookazine here or at select bookstores across India.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 28.3.2026