Naren's indie round-up/ April 2024, Ep 1

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

MC Square & Mohito/ Chirmathi 

Promoted by: Coke Studio Bharat 

Rating: ** 1/2

Like many of its predecessors, the latest Coke Studio Bharat song 'Chirmathi' has many big names. There are Ankur Tewari as creative producer, Hashbass on production and bass, Karsh Kale on drums and main artistes MC Square and Mohito.

It's a Harvanvi folk tune with a catchy start too, even mentioning poet Robert Frost in the beginning, for whatever reason. The problem is that after a while, it goes all over the place, despite having an interesting subject of a girl wanting to achieve her dreams.

The effort is to pack in too many things into one song, and things go haywire. But why are we surprised?

Paushali Sahu/ Sukoon

Label: T-Series 

Rating: *** 1/2

Last year, Kolkata singer Paushali Sahu had released the catchy number 'Haule Haule Piya' and the melodious 'Taaron Ke Sang'. She again teams up with music director Shamik Guha Roy on her new release 'Sukoon'.

Written by Sushmita Chanda, the song is about finding happiness in small things. The bansuri, acoustic guitar, mandolin and keyboards ae used for melody, complementing Paushali's sweet voice well. The song has a bubbly air, and a Bengali line provides variety.

A highlight is the video, showing children and ladies dancing with joyous glee, and Paushali taking pictures. Strangely, the video credits are missing.

Lisa Mishra/ Saza

Label: Warner Music India

Rating: ***

Indo-American singer Lisa Mishra says her latest song 'Saza' draws from her own life, and is meant to be an open letter to her ex-lover. "Kis baat ki mili yeh saza, bin kuchh kahe kahaan tu chala", she begins.

Most of the lyrics are in Hindi, though some English lines are slipped in too. "Is it really true I don't stand a chance", she asks. It's a simple tune with relatable words, but wonder why it needed four composers and three lyricists in the credits.

Lisa appears in the video with Danish Sood. Routine fare, nothing extraordinary, but goes with the words. 

Aditya Dcruz/ 24X7 365

Label: Self-released 

Rating: ***

Another Hindi song with a smattering of English lines is '24X7 365' by Aditya Dcruz. Now you needn't be a genius to figure out it's about being in love all through the year.

The song has a clubby sound with a liberal dose of rhythm n' blues and an infectious beat. It begins with Aditya singing, "Nasheeli aankhon wali tera naam hai kya?" and leads to a point where he declares, "I finally found her, I finally found her, things just seem brighter, I think Imma wife her". Yay!

It's one of those feel-good songs for those in love. Chandigarh-based producer Culture Beats adds to the party mood.

Vishal Bhardwaj/ Main Ghana Andhera Hoon

Label: VB Music 

Rating: *** 1/2

Though one knows him primarily as a filmmaker and composer, Vishal Bhardwaj likes to sing whenever possible. This blogger has seen his live appearances a couple of times, and he has good stage performance skills.

This song 'Main Ghana Andhera Hoon' is a studio recording  of words written by the great poet Dr Bashir Badr. Debarpito Saha has produced the song, with Mayukh Sarkar on guitars.

The song has long lines, beginning with, "Main ghana andhera hoon, aaj meri palkon par, roshni ke ghar rakh do: Khushboo se nehla do, in sulaghti aankhon par, titliyon ke par rakh do". Despite the lengthy structure, Vishal is in control.