narenmusic

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Faheem Abdullah/ Teri Yaad Label: VYRL Originals Rating: **** Known for 'Ishq' and the Saiyaara title song, Srinagar-bred Faheem Abdullah has a resonant voice and very personal style. We now see him in the video of 'Teri Yaad', the first song he ever wrote. It's a sad song, beginning with the lines, "Hai yeh kismat ka faisla jo hua tu hai mujhse juda, hai yeh zindagi bewafa, jo liya hai mujhse mera jahaan". Qassam Hussain's rabab gives it a traditional Kashmiri flavour, and Amandeep Singh Soni's guitar adds a contemporary touch. The video, directed by Ruman Hamdani, features Faheem and the pretty Zainab Khan. It reflects the melancholic nostalgia of the song. Divyam Sodhi & Khwaab/ Achcha Lagta Hai Label: Sony Music  Rating: *** 1/2 Singer Divyam Sodhi has an extremely pleasant voice and smooth style suited for softer songs. His teamwork with producer and composer Khwaab has yielded numbers like 'Piya' and 'Baal...

  BY NARENDRA KUSNUR My introduction to the Moody Blues didn't begin with 'Nights In White Satin', their most famous song. Yes, it played on the radio when I was 16 in the late 1970s, but I never paid attention. Three or four years later, a tape with the album To Our Children's Children's Children on one side and Seventh Sojourn on the other caught my attention. Not having the inlay cards, I knew little about the group members or who wrote which song, but I later discovered that John Lodge wrote the gems 'Eyes of A Child', 'Candle Of Life', 'Isn't Life Strange' and 'I'm Just A Singer In A Rock N' Roll Band'. Lodge, who passed away on Friday at the age of 82, was perhaps the most underrated of the Moody Blues members. Though he sang quite a few of the British progressive rock band's songs, played bass majestically and wrote some memorable gems, the genius and personality of vocalist and main songwriter Justin Haywar...

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Akhil Sahni/ Puzzle (EP) Label: Self-released  Rating: *** 1/2 He's only 22, but Akhil Sahni displays a certain maturity in his songwriting. Hailing from Delhi, he's spent four formative years in London, and uses the piano as the main instrument to drive his songs. Akhil's debut EP Puzzle contains five songs, marked by strong lyricism and a simple approach to vocal delivery. The title track has been released as a video, where director Tushar Rochak uses a jazz bar ambience and a formally-dressed Akhil graces the piano. The opening lines are, "Some things don't end happy, they don't end at all, no closure is worse, 'cause you keep wanting more". Besides his piano, he is accompanied by violins (Fiona Griffin), bass (Aditya Shukla) and classical guitars (Dhananjay Chhetri). Akhil seems to be influenced by John Mayer, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, and that shows in his approach. On 'Ignorance', he sings, "What you don't kno...