Top Indian Songs of the week 14th July 2024

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Here are the best songs released in India across languages and genres for the week ending 14th July 2024

1. Jaathre

Producer: Michael League

Composer, Vocalist: Varijashree Venugopal

Arrangements: Michael League, Varijashree Venugopal, Pramath Kiran

Language: Kannada

Genre: semi-classical fusion

Mood: Contemplative

This is one of the finest indie albums released in 2024, and please go stream the album "Vari" right away by Varijashree Venugopal, Michael League and Pramath Kiran. The song's melody composed by Varijashree has traces of Raag Hemavathi and after the initial swaras we get fabulous support on the live instrumentals. The Violins are played by Smitha H M, Sindhu H M and Mattur Srinidhi in unison. The percussions are played to create an unforgettable thump like the Dollu played by Boodyappa H K, Raghavendra H M, Dinesh, Prakasha, Yogamurty, Ranjith and Srinivasa. 

We also have the Table played by Ojas Adhiya, and Gurumurthy Vaidya playing the Pakhawaj and Chende. Anat Cohen plays the stunning CLarinet at an unbelievably high register. To pacify things down after the pre-chorus we have the aalap by Varijashree and the accompanying Harp by Agnès Bérard Laty. This segment is pure magic and I was tempted to think there may have been some Raag DHarmavathi or Madhuvanthi. The mild Harmonium intervention is by Praveen D Rao and Michael League plays the Mellotron and Minimoog Bass. 

The Violins unite for the interlude and adrenaline pumping happens with all the combined effects of the percussions. Pramath is the recording engineer, the tracks are mixed by Nic Hard and mastered by Dave McNair

@varijashree @pramathkiran @michaelleagueplaysmusic @nic.hard @groundupmusicny @mcsnare @juanospinamusic @____magdalini @misslucywoodward @adrianaospinamusic @silviaospina.art 

2. Still

Composer: Anhad Khanna, Tanner Willeford, Isheeta Chakrvarty

Arranger, Producer Anhad Khanna, Tanner Willeford

Lyricist, Vocals: Isheeta Chakrvarty

Language: Hindi

Genre: Semi-classical Fusion

Mood: Contemplative

The saddening Sarangi by Ejaz Hussain, in the intro forces my submission and I am unable to get my spirits up to write this review. Yet there is hope in the sadness, like a silver lining around the dark clouds, when I hear the strings section and piano, looking at the quality of the music out there within the first 40 seconds. The composition is by a trio of talents viz. Anhad Khanna, Isheeta Chakrvarty and Tanner Willeford. If the glimmer of hope wasn't enough we find the sun ray shining now as Isheeta opens up her throat and starts her vocal lead performance.

The synths are heavy in the background and the combination of classical notes by Isheeta and the EDM-styled background sounds is haunting. The Sarangi is constantly present with subtle interventions at times and solid solo bits in the interludes too. Isheeta soaks you into pathos with the touching delivery and the mood is also mysterious with her powerful and improvised aalaps. Anhad and Tanner who have created many such magical songs before, hit the nail on the head when it comes to this production. 

The use of the Tabla played by Sarthak, is splendid and it says a lot about the arrangement skills of the duo. Was there some influence of Raag Pilu in the melody? Maybe, but Isheeta says there could be a mild Raag Keeravani influence. The tracks were mixed by Anhad and mastered by Shawn Hatfield. The artwork is by Dolo. 

@isheeta.c @anhadtannermusic @sarthak.pahwa @ejazhussainofficial @dorlorblind 

3. Leta Jaijo Re

Composed, Produced & Performed by Shashwat Sachdev

Artists: Shashwat Sachdev, Sunidhi Chauhan, Chotu Khan

Lyrics: Folk

Add. Lyrics: Kausar Munir

Language: Rajasthani

Genre: Folk-Pop

Mood: Energetic

The recent singles released under Coke Studio Bharat have been good. The folk fusion songs are doing wonders for the massive talent in India, especially those who have been performers of folk music. Ankur Tewari has been heading the project as a worthy Creative Architect as well as Music Supervisor. This folk song has some additional lyrics by Kausar Munir and the song's melody is written by the famous composer Shashwat Sachdev. He is also the producer and he fuses some funky styles with the folkish tune to give us a banger.

The drums and percussion by Vetri along with all the additional percussion by MT Aditya are so inviting. It is impossible to not fall in love with the brass section thanks to the Kawa Brass Band comprising Hameed Khan Kawa, Aamir Bhiyani, Shoaib Bhiyani, Azaad Bhiyani, Shabir Bhiyani, Shadak Ali, Babu Bhiyani, Sarfaraz, Suresh and Arslan Hussain. Things get steamy with the vocal introduction of Sunidhi Chauhan. The style she oozes along with that husk in the tone makes things enjoyable for the listener. Yash Pal Singh sizzles on the Keys and Synths and the musical team has production assistants viz. Aniket Sharma, Abhisek Panda and Shanya Kashyap

This song is a valuable example of how folk music can be presented to the mass audience and younger generation. All the fantastic backing vocals and chorus come from the Red Room Choir singers viz. Shanya Kashyap, Kaustubh More, Abhisek Panda, Aniket Sharma and Sudhir Yadhuvanshi. We also can hear the traditional folk singers from the Manganiyaar Choir viz. Kutla Khan Barna, Dara Khan, Goram Khan and Pape Khan Barna. The Khartal which is a complex percussion instrument to execute is played by Kutla Khan Barna. 

The recording engineers are MT Aditya, Pradeep, Abhisek Panda, Aniket Sharma and Tanay Gajjar. The tracks are mixed by Shashwat and mastered by Chris Gheringer 

@shashwatology @ankurterwari @kjpahji @kawabrassband_ @shanya.kashyap_ @sharmaaniket24 @singerdare_khan @kutlakhanbarna @paperkhanp @goram.khan.942 @chotukhan_official @abhisekislive_ @kausarmunir @sunidhichauhan5 @swanandkirkire @drumsvetri @vatsalamahendra @mountaditya @ani_voleti @magicshruti

4. I’m Someone New

Vocals : Prateek Kuhad

Writer : Prateek Kuhad

Producer : Prateek Kuhad, Gregg Wattenberg

Language: English

Genre: Alt-Pop

Mood:

This is the best song from Prateek Kuhad, I have heard yet. I have been impressed with some of his most recent work and I have been featuring him of late. The melodies have just become beautiful and I dont feel they are anything but run-of-the-mill. His falsetto is exemplary here as he sings " I'm someone new when I'm with you". The guitar strumming is relentlessly good thanks to Prateek, Gregg Wattenberg and Dan MacDonald who keep at it. The lead guitars and Keys are accompaniments that paint this picture with different brushes. 

I like how the Keys by Prateek and Grant Micheals play the same notes as the verse along with Prateek's singing. Gregg is the bassist and he also does the programming. The interlude has this crescendo on guitars and drums is nerve-wracking. Dan plays the drums with exuberance and as a music lover, I get all charged up for the bridge segment with the nicely arranged harmonies leading up to it. The voices we hear on backing vocals are those of Prateek, Dan and Gregg. The upbeat drums and percussion come to a grinding halt in the outro and when Prateek finishes his vocals, I am left wanting so much more. The mixing is done by Dan and Andrew Maury with assistance from Ethan Feinberg. The mastering engineer is Joe Laporta.

@teamprateekkuhad @prateekkuhad @warnermusicindia @elektrarecords @dan_macdonald4 @jlaportamasters

5. Nange Allava

Composed and Arranged: Sanjith Hegde

Performed by - Sanjith Hegde

Lyricist - Nagarjun Sharma 

Music Producers -  Sanjith Hegde, Gautham Hebbar

Language: Kannada

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic

Sanjith Hegde is unstoppable, and he could be the neighbour's envy. I'll tell you why!. Many vocalists and playback singers in the movie industry have been dreaming of someday putting out the music that they have written. For various unknown reasons, it remains a distant dream for many. Still, Sanjith has been consistent and proficient in delivering these indie releases despite his busy schedule of playback singing. 

This song in Kannada after his prior one in Hindi is addictive in its melody, and Sanjith has composed, arranged and performed the lead vocals. The music production is a collaboration between Sanjith and Gautham Hebbar. Ritwik Bhattacharya and Godfray Immanuel are firestarters with their dazzling guitars, and so after the intro Sanjith gets down to business with his uber-cool delivery. We get a nicely arranged vocal harmony riff in the background and to elevate the coolness quotient we have Napier Naveen, Soorya Praveen on bass and Aniketh Ashok on the live drums. 

The chorus segment is when Sanjith improvises with his ghamakas, giving newer versions of the title phrase " Nange Allava" every time. Nishthula Murphy does a fine job on all the additional keys and rhythm production. In the stanza, we hear some excellent acoustic guitar strumming and the melody just gets sweeter with the same lyrical phrase "nange allava" but with a different set of notes. I was taken aback to hear the sudden English lines and they are catchy. It is interesting to hear the Sitar by Kishore Kumar play the same notes alongside Sanjith in the outro. The lyrics are penned by Nagarjun Sharma

I sort of could hear Raag Bilawal in the mix here. The recording engineers are Akash Shivakumar at Cadence Studios Bangalore, Mani Rathnam at Krimson Avenue Studios, and Divine at 2BQ Studios Chennai. Sunny MR is the mix/master engineer at Chordfather Productions

@sanjithhegde @sunnymr @gauthamhebbar @warnermusicindia @sanjana.doss @suraj_kotecha @whatsabhijoy @ritwikbhattacharya @godfray_immanuel @napier_naveen @anikethashok @soorya_praveen

6. Kadalanchi Sukha Undugey

Performed by Praveen Alva, Sanjeev Nayak

Written by Praveen Alva

Language: Tulu

Genre: Folk Rock

Mood: Happy

I saw this new EP being reviewed by a fellow, music journalist, and that caught my attention. The whole idea of recommending good Indian music is to make sure no language is left behind, or given a step-sisterly treatment. Here is 'Neerh' in Tulu by Praveen Alva, and when I heard this predominantly folk-rock EP, I was intrigued by the quality of the music, the singing and its overall tone and sound design. Varun Murali handles the arrangements, recording, mixing and mastering and he is the reason the EP and a couple of songs mainly stand out amidst a lot of the regional music crowd. 

Praveen Alva is refreshing to hear with his stunning delivery and the compositions are serene like the region he hails from in Karnataka. He starts off on a strong note in this enjoyable song and there are moments we are reminded of his contemporary Raghu Dixit. I love the humming that follows the song's intro and pre-chorus segment. The multiple voices, the string rhythms and the solo violin that ensues are a great concoction. The accompanying acoustic guitars and the violin combine beautifully and the chorus lines are just mesmerising. Sanjeev Nayak is the magician on the violin here.

The backing vocals are arranged in a way you feel all the characters are fishermen taking a boat ride into the deep seas. Skanda Subramanya and Varun Murali are the men on the backing vocals. The song keeps giving more and more goodness like the unending waves of the seas, and from what little I understand, being a south Indian myself, I feel Praveen is referring to the please and joys of the seas when he says "Kadalanchi Sukha Undugey". Please check out the whole EP, and the other song I love is 'Kadal Poiye', which has this Calypso flavour. The song is composed, written and sung by Praveen, with the delightful saxophone by Sandeep Vasishta. The backing vocals and Latin-styled Bongos stand out too. 

@sanjeevnayak @alva.praveen @dynasly @theredmusicbox @checkskanda @ayandc_art

7. Barkha Badariya

Singer - Garvit Soni, Priyansh Srivastava 

Composer - Garvit - Priyansh

Producer - Garvit Soni, Vision

Lyrics - Priyansh Srivastava, Shaunak Sharma

Language: Hindi

Genre: Rock fusion

Mood: Energetic

In Garvit-Priyansh I trust, yes it has become a statement now. The duo after a wonderful EP 'Lafz' are onto the next single and come up with this beautiful song in their typical style. The duo composed and performed this together as always. The way Garvit Soni and Priyansh Srivastava alternate in the lead vocals is stunning. The chorus segment is the highlight with the repeated singing and the explosion on the drums. The drums are played by Nikhil Bachute with impeccable energy and the accompanying guitars by Aditya Kulkarni and Jerin Jaison raise hell. 

I do sense some Asavari Thaat in the melody and it comes to light when the accompaniments go mild and the vocals come to the fore in the stanza. Jerin is also the bassist and we have Mithilesh Panchal on keys. Maybe there is some influence of Raag SHanmukhapriya too, and the heart just feels warmer when the vocals are filled with classical-styled ghamakas. The song is produced by Garvit and Vsiion and the arrangements and programming are exquisite. Priyansh and Shaunak Sharma write the lyrics. I love how Nikhils makes a foray into the drums and the guitars too rise in intensity as we get to the line " Sookha hai mann yeh mera". 

@priyanshhhsrivastava @garvitsoni_ @jerin_jaison_ @tunesofaditya @niikhil_10 @mithilesh_panchal_ @garethsays 

8. Kisi Roz

Singer: Maithili Thakur

Music & Composer: M.M. Kreem

Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir

Arranged & Programmed by: Aditya Dev

Language: Hindi

Genre: Semi-classical Tumri

Mood: Pathos

The first single in this new movie was just about average, but this one certainly gives us the MM Kreem flavour. The song is composed by the legendary MM Kreem, with Aditya Dev on programming and arrangements. I am delighted to see this incredibly talented singer, Maithili Thakur, performing this song which has influences of Raag Yaman. The Tabla is played by Sanjeev Sen, Madhav Pawar, Naveen Sharma & Shridhar Chari, along with the Harmonium by Aditya and backing vocals. 

I am constantly reminded of Jagjit Singh's "Hothon se chu lo tum". The Sarangi by Dilshad Khan comes in and entertains from time to time, and we feel such joy hearing the Ghamakas by Maithili. The interlude is a battle of wits between Dilshad and Aditya and the latter excels in all the arrangements. The combined effect of the Tabla and Keys by Aditya is one concoction that is magical to experience. MM Kreem keeps things quite standardised in the format, following the semi-classical Tumri style. 

The strings section is comprised of Prakash Varma, Chander Makwana, Paresh Parikh, Mohan Goyal, Jeetu Jawda, Sushil Varma, Raju Padhiyar & Abhijit Mazumdar and conducted by Aditya Dev at Yashraj Studios. The recording engineers are Vijay Dalal and Setu with Abhishek Khandelwal assisting. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Aditya. 

@mmkeeravani @zeemusiccompany @maithilithakur @manojmuntashir 

9. Sunn Mere Yaara

Singer: Ranjit Barot, Amit Trivedi 

Composed, Arranged and Produced by Ranjit Barot

Lyrics by Manoj Yadav 

Additional Arrangements by Gulraj Singh

Language: Hindi

Genre: Alt-Rock

Mood: Trippy

The moment this song played, I heard Amit Trivedi's voice, I was certain of one thing. This was not a composition or production of Amit, because I loved the freshness in its execution and arrangements. Rightly so, it is Ranjit Barot who has composed, arranged and produced with additional arrangements by the talented young composer Gulraj Singh. It shows when these smart cookies are at work. 

The keys and synths pile up right at the intro and we know that something insane is about to spring up. Keba Jeremiah strums his lead guitars in a slick fashion, accompanied by the slide guitar sounds as well. As the verse begins we also hear the electric guitar notes in the background. This is some stunning sound design and production by Ranjit and Gulraj. The acoustic guitars are played by Rick Raj. The interlude gives a flavor of synth-pop and both Ranjit and Amit take turns performing the lead vocals. I am not very certain but there could be some Raag Charukeshi in the melody. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Ranjiv Kenkre. The music label is Merchant Records.  

@ranjitbarot1 @itsamittrivedi @merchant_records @gulraj_singh @manojyadavwrites @salimsulaimanmusic @kcloyindie @bonnygosain @kebajer @rickrajofficial 

10. Khudaya

Composer: Suhit Abhyankar

Lyricist: Manoj Muntashir Shukla

Singers:  Suhit Abhyankar, Sagar Bhatia, Neeti Mohan,

Music Production, Programming & Chorus Arrangement: Suhit Abhyankar

Language: Hindi

Genre: Sufi-Qawwali

Mood: Romantic

This is the only bearable song from the album 'Sarphira', as the rest of the album is a big letdown. This song is composed, produced and programmed by Suhit Abhyankar whose songs I loved and featured in the movie 'Tarla' about a year ago. He comes back with another good show here. The song has this Sufi-Qawwali style and hence there is a lot of resemblance to AR Rahman's style of music-making, nevertheless this is a fine song. The lead vocalists are Suhit and Neeti Mohan, and Sagar joins in on the chorus. The chorus segment reminds us of AR Rahman's works from 'Rockstar' and 'Guru'. Manoj Muntashir is the lyricist. 

Ishteyak Khan plays the delightful Tabla all along and he is also the man on the Dholak. The music supervisors Azeem Dayani and Meggha Vikaas Bali pitch in with their contributions. The stanza is elevated brilliantly by the stunning voice and delivery of Neeti who uses some excellent ghamakas to captivate us. The guitars, bass and Harmonium are apt accompaniments. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Eric Pillai at Future Sound of Bombay, and the recording engineers are Avdhoot Wadkar (AMV), Mohsin Raza (Hear me Out), Abhay Rumde (Purple Haze). 

@suhit_abhyankar @manojmuntashir @azeemdayani @maggibali @ericpillai @ishteyakkhanofficial @sagarthesoul @neetimohan18

11. Suddenly

Performed by Peter Cat Recording Co.

Written by Dhruv Bhola, Karan Singh, Kartik Pillai, Rohit Gupta, Suryakant Sawhney

Language: English

Genre: Soft Rock

Mood: Groovy

This is the second time I am featuring the song of Peter Cat Recording CO, and like I always say the vocals of Suryakant are stunning reminding me of Colin Hay of the rock band "Men At Work". The last time I featured "People Never Change". The mild drums with the gentle tap of the hi-hat and the ultra-cool bass guitars by Dhuruv are so engaging and perfectly decorate the song as thin veils of arrangements. Rohit is playing the Keys

Things get cooler with the generous drumming by Karan, vocal harmonies and lead guitar strumming by Suryakant. I love the song's tempo which keeps me grooving, and the the saxophone by Karthik in the interlude makes things dreamier than usual. A big round of applause goes to band members of the Peter Cat Recording Co. viz. Dhruv Bhola, Karan Singh, Kartik Pillai, Rohit Gupta and Suryakant Sawhney. 

@dhruv.bhola @karransi @lifafa @jambluness @pagalhaina @muddywater @4ursat