Naren's indie round-up/ May 2022, Ep 1

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Lakhwinder Wadali/ Benaqab

Label: Zee Music Originals

Rating: ****

The son of qawwali maestro Puran Chand Wadali, Lakhwinder Wadali has been regularly accompanying his father at shows. He also releases his own songs, mostly ballads, on an intermittent basis.

On his new release 'Benaqab', Lakhwinder's singing has the right nuances. The video has a dash of humour, and shows him playing a bumpkin being obsessed with a beautiful lady he spots regularly. Rehmat Rattan (in picture) plays the female lead, and the Kashmir locales are beautifully captured.

Composer Aar Bee and lyricist M.S. Abid use a ghazal style, with bansuri and lead guitar embellishing the arrangements. Overall, it's Lakhwinder's voice that rules, and the song has shades of the 1960s film classics.

Aman Moroney ft Prateeksha Shrivastava/ Aarzuu Kaise Khojun 

Label: Springboard Records

Rating: ***

Producer Aman Moroney and singer Prateeksha Shrivastava had earlier worked together on the brilliant song 'Jiya Kaanch Ka'. While that was a frothy tune, their new track 'Aarzuu Kaise Khojun' has a simply melody line.

Co-composed by Aman and Renuka Indurkar, it has been executive-produced by Ashish Manchanda and written by Mohammed Muneem Nazir. The words go, "Khanjar jaisi akhiyon mein saazish thi pehle din se, main toh hoon na khud ka, kaise likhoon yeh khat mein".

Prateeksha has a sweet voice, and flautist Himanshu Kanekar and tabla exponent Vaibhav Duratkar coordinate well at the end. The song makes for easy, pleasant listening.

Reet Talwar/ Main Kaise Kahoon

Label: Warner Music India

Rating: **

Here's an attempt to travel back to the videos that regularly stormed the music channels in the late 1990s. The same few dance steps peppered by lines on everlasting love.

To be fair, the video of New Delhi singer Reet Talwar's 'Main Kaise Kahoon', directed by 'Mohitfornow', has a stylish look. Sadly, the song by itself falls flat, thanks mainly to a monotonous structure and singing that lacks soul.

Hiten's music is passable and THE Badshah gets into lyric-writing mode with often-done lines like "Main kaise kahoon main tere bina jee nahin sakti" and "Mere jaise pyaar na miley kahin". How path-breaking.

Bhagirath Bhatt & Mann Bipin/ Sitar On Drumz

Promoted by: Headroom Sessions Mumbai

Rating: *** 1/2

Growing up in Jamnagar, sitar player Bhagirath Bhatt pursued his later musical studies in Mumbai, learning from Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan and Asad Khan. Besides shows, he has been active in film music.

On the track 'Sitar On Drumz', Bhagirath collaborates with drummer Mann Bipin. It's a lounge-friendly track, with both musicians showing understanding.

The sitar player has composed the piece himself, and the playing is crisp, without resorting to unwanted gimmicks. The melody lingers on. This is part of the Headroom Sessions series initiated by sound engineer Aslam Khan and his son Aftab Khan, and one looks forward to more.

Shashaa Tirupati ft Keba Jeremiah/ Pretend

Label: Self-released 

Rating: ***

Apart from singing for A.R. Rahman on songs like 'Soja Soja' (99 Songs) and 'Rait Zara Si' (Atrangi Re), Shashaa Tirupati has shown promise as a singer-songwriter in her own right. Her EP I'm Sorry, Heart was released last month, and 'Pretend' is the third single.

The focus is on lyrical value, and the song talks of a make-believe relationship through lines like "Show me how you can't seem to feel, 'cause the breathing's getting harder with every ordeal, and I'll just pretend that I'm all healed, I'll find my way home again".

Shashaa sings in a semi-spoken style and Keba Jeremiah's subtle guitar complements the tune. The other songs on the EP are also worth a check.