Prashanth Venkat Made “Breath” in Two Days. The Obsession Took Longer.

Prashanth Venkat knows what it’s like to be behind the music. As a producer, songwriter, music supervisor and programmer, he has spent years helping build other people’s sounds, including work alongside A. R. Rahman across films like The Goat Life, Ponniyin Selvan, Amar Singh Chamkila, Raayan and Thug Life. “Breath” is different. This time, Venkat put himself in the middle of it.

He started with the mridangam at eight. Guitar followed at ten. Production came later, and eventually his work took him into some pretty big rooms. His own music lives in a quieter space. Released on September 11, “Breath” pushes that interior world into darker territory, built around the less-than-romantic experience of being obsessed with someone who doesn’t even know you exist.

Venkat wrote and produced the entire track in two days at his home studio. Then came the vocals. He had never recorded himself singing before, so that part took a full day. There’s a different kind of vulnerability in standing in front of a microphone when you’re used to being the person behind everything else. The production can hide behind the arrangement. Your voice can’t.

The idea for “Breath” came from being in love with someone who had no idea he existed. Tragic? A little. Relatable? Unfortunately, yes. Venkat wanted the song to feel like its own world, drawing from Tame Impala’s ability to make each track feel self-contained and immersive. Electric guitars and hypnotic production give “Breath” that enclosed feeling, while the subject matter keeps getting darker the longer you sit with it.

Venkat is nocturnal. His day usually starts in the evening and stretches into the early morning. That’s when a lot of his music gets made. It makes sense for “Breath”, really. A song about getting stuck in your own head feels right at 3 AM, when everyone else is asleep and your brain has decided one person is still worth obsessing over.