Naren's indie round-up/ Aug 2022, Ep 3

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Biki & His Buddies/ High Time You Make Her Believe

Label: Self-released 

Rating: **** 1/2

Biki & His Buddies is a collective of Kolkata musicians led by Sarbik Guha aka Biki. Their latest song is a tribute to children who miss out on their childhood, and is also about the pain of losing loved ones. Accompanied by an extremely creative animated video by Deepayan Purkait, thus one touches a chord.

It's a deeply emotional number with the lines, "But deep inside the well, she wants to be free; it's high time you pull her out, high time you make her believe". The song has a smooth narrative, and Biki's lyrics need to be heard in their entirety.

The song builds up slowly, and moves on to a rousing guitar-vocal interaction towards the end. Swarnabha Gupta and Nabhoneil Samajdar pump up the electric guitar parts. All in all, a brilliantly constructed song with lots of depth.

Vernon D'Souza/ With You

Label: Throan Of Art Music

Rating: ****

A singer-songwriter from Asansol, West Bengal, Vernon D'Souza has released his new song 'With You'. It's a simple and soulful love song, with lines like, "And I don't know what my future holds, but I hope it is with you".

The song has been co-composed by Vernon and Souvik Adak. Ralph Fernandes is on guitar, and Rhys Sebastian's saxophone embellishes the latter part. The striking arrangements add to the emotions.

To add to that, there's the charming video showing Vernon on piano and Pubali Chatterjee, who impresses with her dancing skills. Director-editors Shadab Khalil and Arijit Sengupta have done a marvellous job on the film.

Rohit Nigam with Rajshree Agarwal/ Let's Grow Old Together 

Promoted by: RRE Studios 

Rating: *** 1/2

As the title suggests, 'Let Us Grow Old Together' is about two people who want to experience happy moments in each other's company as they age. Rohit Nigam sings the tune composed in an ambient pop style by Rajshree Agarwal. 

Shikhar Gupta's lyrics have positive lines like, "Golden rays are dawning, cloudy breeze is yawning, as our paths draw us closer in". Set against an ambient riff, with an animated video for company, it lifts your spirits.

The title may remind you of boy band Westlife's 'I Wanna Grow Old With You'. But that song's about two people separated by circumstances and wanting to get back. This one's happy from the start.

Gurbax, Burrah feat. MC Altaf/ Bliss

Label: Gully Gang

Rating: *** 1/2

Hip-hop producer Gurbax teams up with Punjabi singer Burrah on this track that focuses on peace and humanity. Adding to the mix is rapper MC Altaf, who became known after Gully Boy.

It's one of those melodious hip-hop tracks, and Burrah's nasal twang lends a folk touch. The line 'Pyaare lagde saare insaan, insaan" sticks to you.

Altaf's rap is followed by a child's vocal part by Amyra Solomon. "Rooh naal mel sabda hona, hona", she sings, bringing the song to a neat conclusion.

Stebin Ben/ Kaala Kaala Chashma 

Label: Zee Music Originals 

Rating: ** 1/2

The girl announces, "I wanna break up". Watching her go away, the boy sings, "Menu chhad ke gaya mera yaar, dil da haal kisey sunawa". Am sure you know that the rest of the video is filled with shots of the tear-eyed guy and plenty of happier-time flashbacks.

As a song, 'Kaala Kaala Chashma' has its advantages. Stebin Ben, as expected, sings soulfully. Composer Kausar Jamot comes up with a melodic tune and Kumaar's lyrics go with the rona-dhona vibe. The title is inspired by the line, "Kaale kaale chashme ke peeche aankh chup chup ke rondi ae"

Though Ranju Varghese's video has been picturised well, the storyline is very predictable. Models Aparshakti Khurana and Eisha S deserved a better script.