Five years after she ventured into music, Ananya Birla is set to present her debut album, Bombay Basement, named after the location at which its six songs were created. In this interview, she discusses becoming comfortable in her own skin as a singer, and drawing from her experiences to pen the numbers.

After having worked in the industry for this long, why did you think that making this album was fitting?
When I returned to India from Los Angeles, there were a lot of things that I wanted to say. I set up this make-shift studio in my basement and decided to write about different things. These are like conversations turned into compositions; so it is honest. When I’m alone is an ideal example of its conversational tone. It is emotional. When I’m alone is a pop [song], the next one is a retro number. So the entire album is in the pop realm, but it is influenced by different genres.