Aditi Babel – Superstitions (Single Review)

‘Superstitions’ is the new single by Aditi Babel, a singer-songwriter based across London, Dubai and India.

A doctor by day, this is Aditi Babel’s first release – a song she describes as an upbeat acoustic offering that speaks to a new and fragile relationship.

The track opens with a calm guitar. Instrumentally, the song doesn’t do much; so I think it fair to focus more on Aditi Babel’s voice and lyrics. It’s a voice that garners your attention. Coupled with guitar, you start thinking of musicians such as Zahara and Tracy Chapman – musicians who are more voice and guitar than anything else. Aditi Babel’s voice is not deep; it retains its pop and perhaps feminine nature.

In terms of the lyrics, this is a song where we get a character who’s fallen in love. This is more of your ‘I’ve fallen in love for the first time/ This time I know it’s real’. In short, Aditi Babel’s lyrics remind me of Queen’s classic.

Aditi Babel paints a story of what’s happening to her lyrical persona: a friend of hers has gone to Bristol and bought her crystals, which she puts on the persona’s window sill. Afterwards, a lover buys the persona some flowers.

We are then taken inside the persona’s mind: she’s not a believer in voodoo and magic, but the crystals and flowers can’t be a coincidence; they feel. In other words, it appears to me that they now want to start believing in voodoo and healers.

In other words, not only have the personas fallen in love, but they are on the brink of changing their spiritual ideas. This enriches ‘Superstitions’ from just being a song about love; it also becomes a song about navigating issues of spirituality as well.

The lyrical person goes on to talk about issues of fate. These are philosophical topics, and while we see a person in love, perhaps happy that they’re in love, another striking theme is that of never wanting the happy thing to be over. In short, there’s tension in that the persona thinks that the love might not last. In fact, they want the relationship to last longer. And they try to do their part in making sure the relationship lasts.

Vocally, Aditi Babel is dynamic. She’s soft on this song, but her voice can soar.

SCORE/Outstanding: Guitar-wise, Aditi Babel doesn’t do much. You can also argue that her sweet or beautiful voice is common. Be that as it may, I think her lyricism is deep and thoughtful. Moreover, it tackles issues you might not have thought of.  

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