Red wine, friends & reciprocated attraction
It's a cheeky song; two grown people who have been friends for a while come together to hangout and end up revealing a reciprocated attraction towards each other. It's not a thing that the artist heard people from their background sing about let alone talk about in day-to-day life. "It's getting better and more open for sure, but I think something of this fashion is still not commonly seen being made and shared within the brown community. I like pushing boundaries within myself and socially, so as shy as I can be sometimes, this felt like a fun way to tell a story of a time that I experienced, that I'm sure others have too."
The lyrics came to existence after the artist was reflecting on a past life event, that they amused at how childlike the whole experience was. Very playful, shy, very fun. It never ended up amounting into anything greater, but it's a small moment in their life that they look back on laugh at out of fondness. "Something that we both felt at the time came to the surface due a night of music and some red wine which I think is quite poetic and artsy."
Artwork: -
Though it may not sound like it at all now, the initial musical inspiration for Red Wine Played Cupid came about after rehearing the Pink Panther theme song (you know the "da dum, da dum, da dum da dum da dum da dum da duuummm badadadadum"). Hansini was thinking about the lyrics and really wanted something that felt a little swung, slightly cheeky, and almost dark in sound. "I love soul and rnb and jazz, so a mixture of Joy Crookes and Amy Winehouse influence definitely snuck in there. Got to playing with my mate Helena and the sound that we have now came together."
On reflection upon the journey of creating the song, Hansini recalls: "I'm proud of myself for keeping at it, considering the lengthy creation process, as well as pushing out of my comfort zone and trusting my body enough to do a day of choreography (and amazingly not being too sore the next day). It was a lot of fun and it's a piece of art I'll cherish no matter what direction my music and creative life goes."
Hansini loves to write and sing about personal experiences, especially experiences that perhaps those throughout the South Asian diaspora also relate to and find relevant but aren't so covered in mainstream western and eastern media. They hope to continue singing and writing about my own little experiences and more important ones too.
Artist bio:
Adelaide born, Melbourne based Australian-Sri Lankan artist Hansini brings emotion, personal and universal experiences to her craft. She uses her creativity as a way to understand her own identity, while hoping to connect an audience with like experiences.
Her first collaboration with Singaporean-Australian artist Kartik Kuna, the reggae-pop single 'Chance on We', was released in 2022. 2023 brought about her first single 'Generations', a humble and gentle song about generational trauma and forgiveness. After a year and a half of embracing the creative process, 2025 has seen the release of her latest single, 'Red Wine Played Cupid', fittingly released on Valentine’s Day.
