Top Indian Songs of the week 21st May 2023

Here are the best songs released in India across languages and genres for the week ending 21st May 2023. 

If you are a musician submit your new music here.

1. Anyway

Performed, Written by Aarifah Rebello

Produced by Aarifah Rebello, Zain Calcuttawalla

Language: English

Genre: Alternative Folk/Ballad

Aarifah Rebello has been featured a few times both for her solo projects like "Now she nows" and one with her band Long Distances for "Love Song for an Apocalypse". Here she goes solo again and very rarely do we hear a singer who stuns the listener with every note uttered. Thank you Aarifah for such a fine performance, the strength of the song also lies in the writing and composition which also are entirely done by her with Zain Calcuttawala and Aarifah doing the production.

The Piano and vocals alone keep you hooked, and I can feel the heaviness of the heart when she sings "My heart was heavy, loaded drenched", at the same time, the mild acoustic guitars help bring about a little lightness in the mood also with the lyrics now saying "floating with love inside of me".

The Piano by Arnob Bal, is no longer mild, as it gains traction and I can only stand up in ovation to Zain and Aarifah for the fantastic arrangements and production. Listen to the strings in the background, by Zain feeding hope now as Aarifah sings "Do I dare I begin to dream". Here are the vocal harmonies and drums by Karun Kannampilly for essential cogs of the wheel. The drums and the tempo pick up and raise the energy towards the end. Adil Kurwa is the bassist and the acoustic guitars are played by Jishnu Guha. 

The song is mixed by Zain, and mastered by Shawn Hatfield at AudibleOddities Studio. The recording engineers are Nitin M Krishna and Ajay Majethia 

@aarifahrebello @bullibainbridge @karunk @a_diilla @arnobbal @short___round @grasparkaudio @palindromamusic @guitars_n_chopsticks @audibleoddities 

2. Tera Hona

Singer: Faheem Abdullah & Arslan Nizami

Lyricist: Faheem Abdullah

Composer: Faheem Abdullah

Music Produced/Arranged/Programmed: Qassam Hussain

Language: Hindi

Genre: Indie Pop

The deep voice immediately grabbed my attention and sounded like Aditya Rao, another fantastic indie singer-songwriter. Faheem Abdullah is the vocalist and he has also written the lyrics and composed the melody. The Keys are wonderfully soft and tender and they let Faheem do all the talking (singing in this case). 

There are a couple of layers of vocals and what is beautiful is the mild but very assured vibrato that Faheem sprinkles at every turn. It never feels overdone, but rather melts your heart at every such juncture. I do sense some influences of Raag Bilawal especially when Rohan Prasanna makes the killer move on his Sarod. We have some very skilful arrangements here as the Sarod is accompanied by Keys and harmonies with additional vocals by Arslan Nizami.  

The song witnesses a welcome and wonderful shift in tone and tempo as Faheem sings "Teri hi wo ik dua hai" and you can feel the rhythms, drums and keyboards joining in. Qassam Hussain deserves praise for the worthy arrangements, programming and overall production. Faheem's singing is a huge merit for this song all Qassam's production ensures this feature is highlighted with other elements acting as supporting cast. 

Arslan must be applauded for his energetic vocals, which keep following the lead in the background, especially as he does some exciting aalap. Abhishek Ghatak is the mix/master engineer. Check out how cool Rohan sounds on the Sarod as he improvises and generates some savvy notes of his own towards the end. 

@theimaginarypoet @arslannizaami @qassam_hussain @rohanprasanna @theghatak @tmmusic 

3. Musafir Dil

Lead Vocals - Abhijeet Sawant

Composed, Produced & Written by - Vipin Mishra

Language: Hindi

Genre: Indie Pop

It feels nice to feature one of India's earliest success stories from a music reality show. Abhijeet Sawant was the winner of Indian Idol Season 1 and here he is making me wonder where he has been all along. The husk is his voice, and the oozing confidence in his delivery juxtaposed against the number of projects he works on tells me he is being dealt bad cards. 

Anyway, getting back to this song, the strumming of the guitars feels sweet and pristine as Vipin Mishra writes, composed and produces this ecstatic single. The harmonies kick in, and when the title line explodes we have electric guitars, rhythms and keyboards enhancing the effect.

The electric guitar solo in the interlude is not working alone, you can hear bass guitars, and strings too and this is all just fantastic arrangements and production by Vipin. The concoction of all instruments, live and programmed, stands out as the highlight reel of the song. 

@vipinmishraproject @abhijeetsawant73 

4. Veyillelam

Singer: Sooraj Santhosh,Megha Josekutty

Lyricist: Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri

Music Director: Shaan Rahman

Language: Malayalam

Genre: Filmi Pop

It has been a long time since I had Sooraj Santhosh featured here, and I have always considered him to be one of the best playback singers around. Shaan Rahman continues to sizzle with some fantastic music once again and he also picks Megha Kosekutty and Sooraj Santhosh as the lead vocalists and both grab the opportunity with tight and safe hands. 

I love the sound design and production value of Shaan's work as always and the best quality is how he united a very hummable tune along with some fantastic production. Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri writes beautiful words. I love how Megha and Sooraj sing the same notes one after the other but on two different Octaves. When you hear the song, there is such a long pallavi-anupallavi segment, kudos to Shaan for that. 

Sooraj excels at all the high-pitched singing and he and Megha combine quite well in the stanza singing in harmony. The song is mixed and mastered by Harishankar V

@shaanrahman @soorajsanthosh @iamharishankarv 

5. Amra Sobhai Raja

Artist & Lyrics: Logarhythm

Composers: Logarhythm & THA ARMANI

Music Produced by: THA ARMANI

Language: Bangla

Genre: Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop is no easy genre to score, as well as impress a listener. I love the style, but not everybody makes the cut, and that is why feature very few Hip-Hop artists on my weekly charts. This fantastically engaging single qualifies thanks to some tongue twisters by Logarhythm (Mainak Ghosh). The artist also excels in his delivery. 

One must remember however the production is stupendous with some strings in the background and folk instruments as well. Well done Tha Armani for production, programming and arrangement excellence. Logarhtythm has composed, written and performed, with mixing and mastering by DRJ Sohail and Saurabh Kamble as the recording engineer. 

@_logarhythm @kamanirecords @redcodemafiaboss @drj_sohail 

6. Live Another Day

Composed, Produced & Performed By: Shor Police (Clinton Cerejo & Bianca Gomes)

Lyrics: Shor Police

Language: English

Genre: Indie Pop

Here come the stalwarts, Shor Police a two-piece band with Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes. If there is something in the Indie pop scene, chances are that they would say "Been there done that". The duo have composed, written and performed in perfect unison in many segments. 

My favourite line is the title when they sing " I live another day, chase the pain away" and this feels like a song that reminds me of the nostalgic 90s when global pop music hit an unfathomable high. This song would make it to give any artist a run for their money. The song is laden with Keyboards and synths and not a single step goes wrong. Clinton sings with adequate ease and there are segments when both he and Bianca excel with their vibrato. 

The recording engineer is Pallavi Kedar and Clinton does the mixing at the Groove Room, Mumbai with Aftab Khan mastering at Headroom Studio. 

@shorpolice @clintoncerejo @iambinkybee @mixedbyaftab @saumyathakur @kedarpallavi  

7. Sunday Afternoon

Performed by Ash Lune

Written by Ash Lune, Tom Eggert

Produced by Tom Eggert

Language: English

Genre: Indie pop

She moved from Bombay to Brisbane, but like I say for this website, the location is no bar. I am so delighted to feature Ash Lune in this delightful pop single, which can be heard and enjoyed on any day of the week and any time of the day and not just a Sunday afternoon.

The song is written by Ash and Tom Eggert with the latter producing it. The acoustic guitar is a necessary element here that makes for some delightful listening. Ash's vocals make you throb as she experiments mildly with her falsettos and vibratos. Tom Eggert excels in his production as the strings section gets introduced in the background and the moment that appears we feel a bit more pain and get invested into the song. 

The combined effect of her vocals, the strings, the guitars and the additional vocals touches more than just a nerve as she sings " If you could give me just one minute"

@ashlunemusic @tomeggert__ @jeremie_inhaber @chrisgehringer @naima____ @page1management

8. Tham Gaya

Written, Composed and Performed: Rohan Kamath

Produced/Arranged/Engineered/Mastered: Raag Sethi 

Mixed: Protyay Chakraborty

Backing Vocals: Meera Desai

Assistant Engineer: Nirmal Rathod

Feels like the raindrops just fell on a dry water-starved land after many years. It has been a while since I have featured a song produced by Raag Sethi and his musical crew. This is fantastic, to say the least as we have Rohan Kamath writing, composing and performing the song, but the song is enhanced and brought to life by Raag's arrangements, programming and overall production. 

Rohan's voice feels very good to hear as a music listener, and it feels like getting caressed by a warm hug with the acoustic guitars and bass guitars. Raag plays the acoustic, electric and bass guitars in the song and we hear the faint rhythms in the background. Meera Desai supports like always with her additional vocals and these harmonies are arranged quite well. 

That solo on the electric guitar in the interlude has 'sexy' written all over it and as this ends we have a lovely bridge section composed by Rohan and the combined vocals of Rohan and Meera work quite well. The song's tone feels a bit like Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". Protyay Chakraborty has mixed the tracks with Nirmal Rathod as the assisting engineer. Pritika Rao handles the cover art. 

@rohankamath10 @raagsethi @meerasmelodies @protyaych @compassboxstudio @sachin.m22 @pritikaarao

9. Heaven Hell

Performed by: Kowshik Saha

Lyricist: Kowshik Saha

Producer: Kowshik Saha, KHRSMA

Language: English

Genre: Synth-Pop

I did feature Kowshik Saha a few months ago, and when I knew his new single was out, I was excited. Kowshik doesn't disappoint in this synth-pop single with some fantastic vocals and well-arranged and programmed keyboards. 

He has written, composed and performed in the song and production duties shared between Kowshik and KHRSMA. The highlight is the humming that just follows the lines "Heaven Hell is fake or real? Who's gonna say?"

The song takes me back to the golden era of synth-pop, and I can hear great bands like A-ha as I listen to this. The humming stands out and it makes me go back to the song again and again. 

@kowshikrsaha 

10. Lighthouse

Performed by Aman Jagwani, Anubha Kaul

Written by Aman Jagwani, Anubha Kaul

Produced by Aman Jagwani

Language: English

Genre: Electronic Pop

They are a powerhouse of musical talent and there has never been any occasion where a single released by Aman Jagwani and Anubha Kaul has not been featured by me. Just like the title suggests, Anubha and Aman are like a lighthouse trying to ensure the world of indie music survives without crashing. 

Anubha's vocals will just pull you closer as if you were connected by strings. The song is written by both Aman and Anubha with the lead vocals by Anubha and Aman producing it. If her lead vocals weren't enough the additional vocals are haunting and the Synths that follow by Aman are extremely impactful. The multiple layers of vocals with Aman also performing combine like a dream with all the keys and rhythms. 

@anubhaaaa @amanjagwanimusic 

11. Jupiters Moon

Written, Performed by Diya Maeve

Produced by Ashay Raut

Language: English

Genre: Indie Pop

Sometimes just the strumming of guitars for a few seconds is enough to impress and grab all your attention. Diya Maeve's song here does exactly that for me even before she begins her vocals. This talented singer-songwriter is a trained vocalist in Indian classical music and that shows her vocal stability and control. 

The additional vocals add some nice support with the guitars adding glamour and flourish. Ashay Raut produces it with an immaculate style. My favourite line is when Diya sings " When it 3 AM and you don't notice me blushing". I wonder who wouldn't notice a woman with vocals like this? 

The writing is so innocent, reminding us of our teenage crushes and first loves. The combination of such simple yet touching lyrics, with Diya's dreamy vocals feels like a sharp spear impinging into my heart. Kudos to Ashay for the superb arrangement of the Keys, guitars, drums and vocal harmonies 

@diyamaeve @ashay_mick

12. Fighting With Your Family

Performed by The Lightyears Explode

Written by Saurabh Roy

Produced by Saurabh Roy

Language: English

Genre: Punk Rock

The last time I featured this duo, they had an explosive single called "Hello Cheater" with Dave Arrows. Like I said back then, I maintain that this duo reminds me of American outfit Greenday and it is a massive compliment to compare with those punk rock Gurus. 

Saurabh Roy is the guitarist and vocalist and he has written and composed the melody for this one. Shalom Benjamin. the other half of the band is the bassist. It is not the tone and style of music alone, but even the vocals make me feel the pulse of untarnished punk rock. The guitars have some exciting notes in some segments, but it is the thumping drums that energise the song. 

We have some interesting additional vocals intertwined into the scheme of things, and the interlude on electric guitars feels refreshing. 

@thelightyearsexplode

13. Fomo

Performed by Jzzy

Written by Adam Neilson, Ajmat Jasmine Mohammed, Ashley Alisha, Nick Axel Kauffman

Produced by Adam Neilson , Nick Axel Kauffman

Language: English

Genre: Punk Rock/Pop

I featured her song "After Effects" a year or so ago and it is one helluva ride that song is. I still pick it as one of my favourites for any Instagram story that should sound fun. Jzzy is nothing short of brilliant on vocals in this song. It kind of floats in between the Pop and Funk Rock styles, either way, it sounds emphatic when you listen to her.

The song is written by Adam Neilson, Ajmat Jasmine Mohammed, Ashley Alisha and Nick Axel Kauffman with Adam & Nick being the producer. Kudos to Adam for getting such a wonderfully energetic and uplifting soundscape. The vocal improvisation by Jzzy is par excellence. It reminds me of movies like "American Pie" and we have been exposed to this kind of OST in such fun movies. One can listen to the EP 'Scribbles', but this happens to be my favourite single. 

@jzzyxox @notmaxmartin @nickaxelkauffman 

14. Parts Of Two

Performed by  Shourya Malhotra, Varun Rajput, Elijah Peter

Written by Shourya Malhotra, Varun Rajput, Elijah Peter

Lyrics by Shourya Malhotra

Produced by Varun Rajput

Language: English

Genre: Indie pop

A guitar-laden track embraces better than a warm hug and it inculcates feelings of romance too. This cuddling single is written and composed by Elijah Peter, Shourya Malhotra and Varun Rajput, and the trio also perform together with production falling squarely on Varun. Shourya's vocals are like that innocent boy who kills you with his charms and naivete.

It might be called " Parts of Two" but has much more than just the two layers, we can hear those simmering vocal harmonies, the Keys by Elijah, Shourya and Varun and the strings section in the background too. The song's instrumental arrangements are fantastic, and this is where Varun, Elijah and Shourya deserve praise. Towards the end, we have a guitar solo , aided by strong drumming by Arko Ganguly and humming in the background which is a memorable climax. Varun is the mix engineer, with Gethin John on mastering duties. The artwork is by Siddharth Iyer. 

@varunrajput_75 @elijahpeter @shouryamalhotramusic 

15. Jaise Hogi Tu

Singer, Composer, Lyrics - Prithviraj Singh

Music Production - Udit Parmar

Language: Hindi

Genre: Indie Pop

Udit Parmar impresses with some neat production and he makes me realise how a guitar-Key combination can work wonders. The bass guitars stand out in the first opening lines, and if you pay attention you will know how stylishly it's played.

Writuraj Gogoi plays the guitars and one must appreciate Prithviraj Singh for his eloquent vocals. He keeps up with all the lovely instrumentals and impresses with a mild vibrato here and there. The solo on the electric guitar is a game-clincher, with memories of Jon Bon Jovi coming to light. The song is simple in its structure, but the vocals, the hummable tune all the production and arrangements are captivating. 

Prasad Maha is the mix/master engineer, and the outro of the song is fantastic with layers of vocal harmonies just beneath the guitars. Well done Prithviraj who is now being quite consistent as a singer-songwriter, creating some wonderful tunes. 

@prithviraj_sing