Top Tamil Songs of January 2024

Here are the best Tamil songs released for the month of January 2024. 

If you are a musician submit your new music here.

1. Katchi Sera

Composed & Performed by Sai Abhyankkar

Music Produced by Sai Abhyankkar

Lyrics by Adesh Krishna

Additional Vocals by Sai Smriti 

Music Programmed & Arranged by Sai Abhyankkar 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Mood: Happy 

Sai Abhyankkar a.k.a. Abhay releases this brilliant pop number would deserves to be at the top of the charts undoubtedly. I am thrilled to see such amazing talent exhibited by Abhay, who has single-handedly created this banger. He has written the melody, sung the lines and along with that arranged and produced the song to perfection.

It all begins in such a mellow fashion, but the moment Abhay starts singing our hearts just grow fonder. The cool and casual style of delivery is executed brilliantly and let us not forget Adesh Krishna's apt lyrics. Sai Smriti sings in the background and delivers those stylish and teasing Konnakol lines. The impactful bass is accompanied by engaging keys, synths and the Vocoder, all played by Abhay. 

Do remember to check in the song's official video on YouTube as it has some stunning choreography by Anusha Viswanathan and all the dancers from The Dancers Club. The interlude is filled with the Nadaswaram by Parthiban, the DIY Duduk and Bawu played by Ashish and all the wonderful rhythms programmed by Abhay. Many musicians assume that a song with a couple of catchy lines is good enough for the listeners to enjoy, but Abhay deserves huge appreciation for going further and giving us a cherished experience and you can feel the hair rising with the melodious notes of the stanza as he sings " yaarum parthu ninnu pesavilla". 

He sings the lines with such finesse and it is like he knows the magic formula to make a song sound hypnotic and addictive. Whether you understand the lyrics or not, I urge the readers to listen, see and dance their way to bliss with this one. The electric guitar is played by Rohan Sebastian, while Abhay is on the acoustic guitar. Yanka Rhythm Group is in charge of the reverberating live rhythms, and the tracks are mixed by Sai at YOLO Records and mastered by Rupendar Venkatesh. 

@abhyankkar @thinkindiecollective @tatva_man @directedbykenroyson @anu_viswa @thedancersclub @rupendar_venkatesh @my_deceptive_cadence 

2. Megham Pol Aagi

Song Composed Arranged by JAKES BEJOY 

Lyrics: THAMARAI

Singer : KAPIL KAPILAN

Music Producers : 

JAKES BEJOY, HARISANKAR V

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music / Pop

Mood: Happy

Just like I have consciously decided to include instrumental music every week, I am also going to get Tamil songs into the list as long are worthy of the spot. Last year I published a monthly on Tamil music ( Tamil being my native tongue) and kept them away from the India weeklies, but now I believe the larger crowd will benefit and take inspiration from the great Tamil songs too if I include them in the weekly playlists. 

This one is from an upcoming Tamil movie called "Nirangal Moondru" and it has some good music as of now with the first single turning out to be a delightful melody. Kapil Kapilan sings it with such finesse and there is romance flowing through his delivery. Thamarai writes beautiful lyrics that blossom in love just like the name Thamarai which means "Lotus". I just love the anu pallavi " kaatrum veesuthe, kaathoram pesuthe" is terrific musically and lyrically. The rhythms and keys are terrific in the programming. 

The trumpet by Babu solely adorns the interlude segment with Jakes and Harisankar V being the men in charge of production. The stanza continues to serenade us and when Kapil sees a shift in the trajectory with the line " Naan ezhutha kavithaiyellam unnodu, nee nadanthal nizhalai pinnodu" is a stunning landing line from the charanam to the chorus segment of teh song. Kapil's mild vibrato does more than enough to steal your heart. 

The clarinet (programmed) is excellent in the written notes and execution and makes for one dreamy interlude. The session is arranged by Daniel Joseph Antony and Maneeth Manoj. The guitars, mild strings section, horns and keys celebrate the melody to its fullest. The recording engineers are Midhun Anand, Daniel Joseph, Maneeth and Midhun Manoj. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Midhun Anand. 

@jakes_bejoy @kavignarthamarai @maneethmanoj @midhunmanojj @midhunanand_official @daniboy__7

3. Thaensudare

Music Composed, Arranged & Produced by Sean Roldan

Singers: Sean Roldan, Shakthisree Gopalan

Lyricist: Mohan Rajan

Additional programming by Ashwin Raja  

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music

Mood: Romantic

The album 'Lover' has some amazing songs, and I recently did a full album review on IG giving it 4/5 as the rating. This song along with 'Velagaadha' are the two standout songs. Sean Roldan motors along as one of the best composers we have in India and I cannot rave enough about the focus he applies to composing a good melody. 

Vocally, Shakthisree Gopalan makes the heartthrob and hair rise all over your skin. The singing is powerful and technically sound, her tone also devastates with that tinge of sadness. The Piano gravitates the pathos, but nothing hits the nail on the head like the Violin solo and the strings. We have the uber-talented dynamo Rithu Vysakh as the One-man String Quartet. The Viola and Cellos are pulling us like strings attached to our bodies and we have to sink deep into this tragic melody.

The melody and the arrangements, especially the strings section bear a lot of similarity with Santhosh Narayanan's "Agasatha" from the album 'Cuckoo'. Rithu does a terrific job in producing the string quartet in the interlude. Sean Roldan is the male lead vocalist and the inherent tone in his voice induces some pathos, and hence works like magic. 

Ashwin Raja does all the splendid additional programming, and the touching lyrics are by Mohan Rajan. Aswin George John is the recording engineer at Sounds Right Studio and Rupendar Venkatesh is the mix/master engineer at Mix Magic Studios. Silver Tree is the Music Management Team. 

@rseanroldan @shakthisreegopalan @mohanrajan_lyrici @srigouripriya @manikabali87 @ashwin.rajaa @rithuvysakh @aswin_george_john @silvertreeoffl @rupendar_venkatesh

4. Kaakarattan

Composer- G.V. Prakash Kumar

Music Producer- Sathyaprakash 

Main Artist- Vidya Vox, Rajalakshmi Senthilganesan

Lyricist- Yugabharathi

Language: Tamil

Genre: Folk-Pop

Mood: Happy

GV Prakash begins 2024 on a great note and isn't that true for Tamil music fans as well? I felt Coke Studio Tamil Season 1 was quite successful and saw the creation of some excellent music, and we are here to witness the birth of Season 2. The stringed instruments we hear are the Mandolin, Ukulele and Saz played by Sachidanand Sankaranarayanan and then the folkish texture emerges with Balasubramani's Nadaswaram. One can still feel that fusion effect with the bass guitars by Derick McArthur. Yugabharathi continues his great form with lyrics as he did in 2023. 

The lead vocalists are Vidya Vox, Rajalakshmi Senthilganesan who just provide varying tones to the vocals. I love the strings in the interlude, but I can never take my ears off the sizzling bass guitar notes in the background. I am reminded of AR Rahman's "Maanoothu Mandhaiyile". GV Prakash is the composer but it is Sathyaprakash who produced this with a lot of style and substance. The fusion stems from bringing the folk percussion and tapes by Livingstone along with drums by Kumaran SS. The Thavil is played by Shruthiraj. 

The stanza begins with Vidya Vox's sweet and stunning voice and there is a touch of innocence in her voice. GV has composed a very likeable and hummable melody, especially in the long and winding stanza. Abinandan plays the electric guitar and Lakshmikanth M does all the programming and delightful arrangements. 

A big shout to Kalyani Nair's The Indian Choral Ensemble, as we have exceptional vocalists viz. Alisha Mathew Thayil, Yazhini on Sopranos, Sumathi Shekar as the Alto singer, Shridhar Ramesh, Manikandan Chembai and Akash VH as Tenors. Kalyani does all the vocal arrangements. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Balu Thankachan at 20DB Black assisted by Paul Daniel and the recording engineers are Lijesh Kumar and Davidson Christopher. 

@gvprakash @vidyavox @rajalakshmifolk_official @cokestudiotamil @yughabharathi @kalyaninair86 @theindianchoralensemble @abinandan_r @alishamathewthayil @sumathi_shekar @thebaluthankachan 

5. Kaaliyamma

Music: Ajesh

Singer: Sathyaprakash

Lyrics: Mohan Rajan

Keyboards, Rhythm Programming & Arrangements: Ajesh

Language: Tamil

Genre: Folk-Pop

It is always exciting to have Ajesh on board for a song as the composer. He is gifted and doesn't ever compromise on writing a good hummable melody. The anupallavi is my favourite line that also has the title word as Sathyaprakash sings " kaaliyamma, yendi amma, usurula otti vechen unnayamma". He is a fantastic vocalist and he perfectly oozes the emotions of love as he sings the lines. 

Mohan Rajan is riding a high, after his amazing work as the lyricist in 'Lover' album. Ajesh handles all the amazing arrangements and blends rhythms and keys beautifully through his programming. The folkish rhythms set the right flavor and they keep hitting throughout the song. A very talented Bonny Abraham plays the Oud and Saz and he dominates the melody in the interlude. Hariprasad plays the Percussion. I love the line " thalattura, thaayagura, un anbula , nenja lesakkura" both from a melodic and lyrical standpoint. 

The Clarinet, Flutes and Saxophone are played by Ashish, and Ajesh plays the Kazoo. Deepak and Hariharan are the recording engineers and the tracks are mixed and mastered by Vinay Shridhar. 

@ajesh_ashok @sonymusic_south @dsathyaprakash @mohanrajan_lyrici @bonny_kalappurackal 

6. Azhahey

Singer: Kapil Kapilan

Lyrics: Kavinger Snekan

Music: Shekar Chandra

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music

Mood: Romantic

The song starts off, sounding like "Nee Partha Oru Parvai" with the Piano intro. This is composed by Shekar Chandra for a new movie called "Bhairavakottai" and has Kapil Kapilan on lead vocals. The humming is like a beautiful ballad, and with the acoustic guitars and rhythms, we feel like a 1980s song is playing here. 

The Tabla plays in the background mildly, a highlight reel for me is the Veena interlude played delightfully. There could be traces of Natabhairavi Ragam, in my opinion. The strings section and rhythms add such mild but meaningful layers over the heavy Veena. The melody is well-written and that gives us a meaty stanza. The production gives us vocal harmonies and the Keys in ideal interventions. The overall tone and rhythm remind me of "Devadhai pol oru pen ingu vandhahdu". Snehan is the lyricist. 

@shekarchandra.music @kapilkapilanmusic 

7. Idhu Kaadhal Dhaane

Composer - Adithya RK 

Singer - Adithya RK

Lyrics - Pavithra Lakshmi, Adithya RK

Programmed and Arranged - Bharath Raj, Adithya RK 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Mood: Pathos

Adithya RK is a talented musician and he combines his songwriting skills along with his gifted voice quite effectively. Every time he releases a single, I have featured it and we have a new single joining that list. Adithya writes the melody and he gets Pavithra Lakshmi to write the enchanting words of love and separation. 

He uses his vocal texture to propagate that message of love with heartbreak. The humming at the end of the first verse is fantastic, and it gets elevated by the thumping drums by Magnus. The stunning solo on the violin in the interlude steals the show with a super performance by Akkarsh Kasyap. Bharath Raj and Adithya are the programmers and they pack a punch with the strings section and some terrific arrangements. 

Let us not forget the supreme acoustic and electric guitars played by Simeon Telfer and Darren Hickman. The bass guitars are so stylish and tempt me into madness especially as we approach the outro, and just before the madness in the end. All the additional programming is by Thejas Mohan and Edwin Louis Vishwanath. I love the way the song ends with Adithya's enraged words " Idhu Kaadhal Dhaane". Vinodh Ravi Sundar is the mix engineer and mastering is by Rupendar Venkatesh. The artists are managed by Silver Tree. 

@adithyark.music @pavithralakshmioffl @moca.studio @thejasmohan @vinodh_ravisundar @rupendar_venkatesh @_megnus_ @ananyaramaprasad @akkarshkasyap @bloody_boat @simeontelfer @silvertreeoffl 

8. Hey Nenje

Composed & Arranged By: Roshan, Robin, Riya

Vocals: Roshan Sebastian

Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Music Production: Roshan Sebastian

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic

I have heard Roshan Sebastian and Robin Sebastian as artists performing in various indie and movie projects. It is finally nice to see the siblings combine and also get on board with their sister Riya. They call themselves TRNTY the band, and here is their Tamil Indie single that at once impressed me when I heard it. The trio has composed and made the arrangements. 

Madhan Karky writes the lyrics with such penchant for love and romance. Roshan's vocals are terrific, and I have always wondered why he doesn't get to sing much more in movies. In the opening lines, he exhibits such finesse with his mild vibratos, just enough to tease us. 

The guitars, Ukulele, Mandolin and Banjo do everything in their power to draw us closer and spew the magic dust of love. Abin Sagar plays all these stringed instruments. The humming is a very likeable part of the song and these vocal arrangements are done by Riya Sebastian. The writing is so brilliant, as Madhan writes " Vazhiyil paraigal nerndhal, nadhiyo pudhu vachi ezhudum, uravil dhoorangal nerndhal, Ninaivo palam idum".

Robin plays bass guitars and the perfectly sounding drums are played by Guberan. He picks his moments to stay subtle or dominate a bit more. We have all the 3 siblings on the chorus. The recording engineer is Vishnu Raj at 2 Bar Q Studios, Chennai, and the mix/master engineer is Roshan at TRNTY Records. 

@trnty.music @roshansebastian @madhankarky @robinsebastianmusic @riyasebastiansinger @trntyrecrds 

9. Anbalane

Song Composed, Produced And Arranged By AR Rahman

Lyrics YugaBharathi

Singer Thenisai Thendral “Deva”, Deepthi Suresh 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music

Mood: Pathos

AR Rahman had a poor outing with this year's 'Ayalaan' but the music was better in 'Lal Salaam'. This song hits the right notes and touches the sentimental chord perfectly. I love how Deva is roped in to sing the lead vocals and he has been doing quite well in delivering these songs. The pathos is intertwined with some devotional elements as well. Deepthi Suresh stunned me with her chant in the beginning as it demands some solid vocal skills.

Keba Jeremiah plays the guitars, and when we get to that humming by Deva, a tear drops down my cheek. The melody for most of the song kind of reminds me Shanumukhapriya scale. Yuabharathi writes these touching lines and it adds to the pathos " illarin kai kasai thotten illai, aanum allah nee yen ennai theeyai suttai". Sreekanth Hariharan, Aravind Srinivas, Jithin, Saivignesh, Khatija Rahman, Amina Rafiq, Sireesha Bhagavatula and Akshaya Shivkumar are additional vocalists in the second interlude which just changes the mood immensely maybe thanks to its Raag Maand influence

The interlude also has Haritha playing the Veena, Neelakandan on Tabla, Vedha on Ghatasingari and Rahul on Dholak. The wonderful strings section is played by Chennai Strings and Sunshine Orchestra. The sound engineers on this project are Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Aravind Crescendo, Sathish V Saravanan, Ainul Huq and Bharat. The mixing is by Pradeep Menon and the mastering engineer is Suresh Permal. Dolby Music is Mixed And Mastered By Riyasdeen Riyan. The Nadaswaram is played by Mambalam Sivakumar and all the additional programming is by Santhosh Dhayanidhi, Prashanth Venkat

@deepthisureshofficial @ungaldevaoffl @kebajer @sreekanathhariharan @aravindsrinivas_official @khatija.rahman @sireeshabhagavatula @amina__rafiq @santhosh_dhayanidhi @riyasdeen @sureshpermal @haritharajveena @thesunshineorchestra

10. Unnaale

Vocals, Composition, Lyrics - Sahi Siva

Language: Tamil

Genre: Ballad-Pop

Mood: Romantic

Sahi Siva is a talented musician from Sri Lanka, and he understands how to engage the music lover and align his taste with good musical compositions. Just a few months before "Katchi Sera" became this monstrous hit, Sahi Siva composed, sang and produced this song called " Ammamma Ammamma" which had a similar tne, a very likeable melody, great vocals and also dance-worthy beats and rhythms. 

He now comes up with another beautiful single, writing, composing and singing with panache. Abinandan R David plays the tantalising guitars. Sahil also sings with such emotive expression and that easily elevates every note. The composition is not very complex, but even with this simple melody Sahi keeps the listener quite hooked. 

@palanworks @thipashini @sahisiva_official @abinandan_r @mj.melodies 

11. Please Purinjiko

Curated by Sean Roldan

Composer: Sean Roldan 

Music Producer: Sean Roldan 

Main Artists: Sean Roldan, Aditi Rao Hydari 

Lyrics:

Verses Written by Vignesh Shivan

Chorus Written by Sean Roldan

Vocal Production: Sathyaprakash

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic/Dance

I never get bored of praising someone, and one person falls in that category when it comes to Tamil music recently Sean Roldan has been omnipresent, scoring for movies, singing for other composers, producing indie projects and now also being a curator for Coke Studio S2. This is a super fun single that Sean has composed and performed vocals with the beautiful and talented Aditya Rao Hydari. 

Anyone who has been following followed Tamil movie space of late knows that Aditi can sing. Here she makes us move with her simple but pitch-perfect delivery. The synth-pop /Alt-Rock texture to this semi-classical sounding melody. When we get to the chorus segment "Please Please Please Purinjikko, eppovume, en kuda thaan nee irukkanum" and this sounds like Shanmukhapriya Ragam to me. I have to hand it to Aditi, she makes it beautiful with her mild ghamakas at the end of many of her lines.

The vocal production is by D Sathyaprakash and he is also the Creative Head for Season 2. The humming is just spectacular and it feels intense with the Keys by Ashwin Raja. Amrit Kishan is on Modular Synths and Vicky V2 is on rhythms. Rithu Vysakh blows red hot in the interlude with his solo violin. The verse more or less follows the same scale and my favorite part is "chinan jiru ooru, anga oru veedu, adhil vazhnthale podhadha en kooda nee". These lines are written by Vignesh Shivan but the chorus/title lines are penned by Sean. The electric guitar is by Vikram Vivekanand and he is at it right through. 

The talented lot called The Indian Choral Ensemble (Chamber) has Aparna Harikumar, Sushmita Narasimhan and Vani Nandhini on the chorus. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Rupendar Venkatesh at Mix Magic Studios, Aswin George, Cedric Sherwin, and Leo Dhas the recording engineers at SoundsRight Studios.

This project is managed and produced by GroupM Motion with Zaarra Khader as Business Head, Vinayak Manoj as Project Lead and Kavitha Thomas is the Executive Producer. 

@rseanroldan @aditiraohydari @making_moments.in @cokestudiotamil @rithuvysakh @rupendar_venkatesh @the.gooey.kablooey @vicky_balasubramanian @ashwin.rajaa @amrit_anomalie @chillybeef @anu_viswa @wikkiofficial @theindianchoralensemble @aparnaharikumarh @sushmita_narasimhan @vani.shh @zaarra_khader @kavithathomasmusic @mariakavita

12. Manasukkul

Music composed, Arranged & Programmed

by Sujith Benjamin  

Vocals - Pavani Vasa 

Lyrics - Ahamed Shyam 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Mood: Romantic

The opening lines tell the whole story and that too quite clearly. Ahamed Shyam writes " Manasukkul Mazhai ondru pozhiyuthe, yenada, Kudia kondu, pidkkava, nanaiyava koorada". The feeling of bliss when love beckons, and the constant dilemma, and mind games when we are in a relationship, are probably brought out with these simple but beautiful lines. Sujith Benjamin has composed, arranged and programmed music for this song. He gives us a Harris Jayaraj tone with this Pop number.

Robin Sebastian plays the constantly stylish bass guitars and the acoustic guitars along with. The stanza opens with some more melodious lines and the presence of strings adds a nice layer in the background. Pavani Vasa performs very well, giving these lines an extra oomph. Sarthak Kalyani does all the additional programming and the tracks are mixed and mastered by Sujith. 

@sujith_benjamin @robinsebastianmusic @sarthak.kalyani @wavbee @ahamedshyam @singerpavanivasa