Top Tamil Songs of May 2023

Here are the best Tamil songs released for the month of May 2023. 

If you are a musician submit your new music here.

1. Chill Makka

Song Composed, Arranged And Produced by Sean Roldan

Singer: Pradeep Kumar

Lyricist: Mohan Rajan

Music Producer: Sean Roldan

Genre: Latin Jazz/Pop

It is no mean feat to have two splendid songs in the same album. It used to be a regular occurrence when Ilaiyaraja and AR Rahman used to have 4 to 5 fabulous songs packed into a single album. Anyway, Sean Roldan has done a tremendous job with both 'Naan Gaali' ( NO. 1 Tamil song last month) and Chill Makka topping this month. 

This is a Pradeep Kumar special, as the playback specialist shows why he is fantastic not only in morose songs, but he can pack a punch in breezy singles as well. If 'Naan Gaali' felt like a tribute to Maestro Ilaiyaraja, this feels like one to ARR, as I get a sense of some similarity with 'Kick Yeruthe' from the movie 'Padaiyappa'. 

Bhuvanesh Narayanan on Keys and Ricardo Jimenez on trumpets set the tone straight away giving the song a Latin Jazz tone. When a song is produced in this style, rhythms become a crucial element and this is where RK Sundar comes in for producing and recording the rhythms. It is then Pradeep chilling out with his vocals and you can sense the minute vibrato and improvised ghamakas Pradeep brings to the table.

Vijay Ganesan makes his presence felt on the electric guitars, while Aalaap Raju shines on his bass guitars. The line "Enni paaru, Sonna Kelu" is when you can hear the fantastic interplay between Trumpets, bass guitars, Keys and rhythms. The stanza begins with some nice Accordion sounds accompanying Pradeep's lead, and the most astonishing line is when he sings "Kolla inbam irukku, athai alla neram othu" and kudos to Sean, Mohan Rajan on lyrics and Pradeep for getting it done perfectly blended. The recording engineers are Manoj Krishna, and Aswin George John with Cedric Sherwin, and Guru Hariraj assisting. 

The second interlude is beautiful with the Keys, Harmonica, and electric guitar. Balu Thankachan is the mix/master engineer with Paul Daniel assisting. MP Vijay of Silver Tree Management is the manager for Sean Roldan.

@rseanroldan @mohanrajan_lyrici @the.meethling @pradeep_kumar1123 @vjganesan @bhuvanesh_keys @aalaapraju @ricardo.jimenez.music @silvertreeoffl @thebaluthankachan

2. Thaaragaye

Music: Barath Dhanasekar

Lyricist: Hemanth Prakash 

Singer: Abhijith Anilkumar

Genre: Filmi Pop

I am extremely delighted with Barath Dhanasekar's composition in the new album "Halal Shawarma" because there are two fantastic songs which are getting featured here this month. A few months ago I featured a very beautiful melody by him in Telugu called 'Naa Dhaarullonaa'. 

This song is composed and produced by Barath with Abhijit Anilkumar on vocals and Hemanth Prakash writing the lyrics. I remember Abhijit's fantastic number for the Malayalam album "Vaashi" last year and here he reminds me of singer Haricharan, especially in the higher pitch singing "Tharagaye tholaivagidave, aarirule". Hemanth Prakash writes these beautiful lines.

Sanjay Balajee beings the proceedings with a beautiful solo on the flute, giving out the song's opening, and Naveen Napier plays the bass guitar. The song has a rich Pallavi and Anu Pallavi as well, and here we have sounds of the acoustic guitar by Sam Solomon and Veena by Anantha as well playing in the background. Pavithran Jack and Shiva Sai play all the percussion. 

Paying closer attention there is also a layer of the flute and vocal harmonies in the background, so well done Barath for the fantastic arrangements and production. Dan Kristen does all the keyboard programming, with Rokesh Antoney and Immanuel Raj on additional programming. 

We have a Harris Jayaraj styled fast-paced, Veena and bass guitar-filled interlude aided by catchy rhythms. Barath composes a very exciting stanza with this line being the best "ranamana enathullam, thudikkum aazhangalil". This is one fantastic single with Abhijit excelling in all the ghamakas, timed and executed to perfection. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Roshan Sebastian. 

@abhijithanilkumar_ @flute_balajee @dystopian_hippie @napier_naveen @saregamatamil @percussion_pavithran @dan_kristen @roshansebastian 

3. Poomadhiye

Composer: Santhosh Narayanan

Singer: Dhruv Vikram

Lyrics: Vivek

Composed, Arranged and Programmed by Santhosh Narayanan

Genre: Electronic Pop

I like that Santhosh Narayan experiments from time to time in the indie space despite being a pillar in the Kollywood Music Industry. This is true for even Sean Roldan. Anyway, I am so glad the composer has joined hands with Dhruv Vikram as the vocalist and for anyone who hasn't heard how amazing he sounds, please first listen to 'Missing Me?' from the movie 'Mahaan' score by Santhosh. 

This song shows that Dhurv can also sing a breezy romantic pop number other than Hip Hop. The lyrics are very witty and relevant, written by Vivek and with his singing it is sure to become a hit. Santhosh's melody comes out in the opening segment itself but its true richness gets amplified in a later line "un kaaladiyil en kaalam sella". 

The Keys and synths are fantastic and the opening riff is a testament to that. Kudos to Dhruv for his attitude, delivery, his vocal range and mild but noticeable vibrato. That cute child-like (Donald Duck-type) sound is interesting. The Piano that keeps playing mildly is a beautiful layer and that too feels incredible to the ears when we get to the line " naan kan muzhicha un kannukulla". Rupender Venkatesh has done the additional mix and also does the mastering for the song. 

Aditya Ravindran chips in as always with his backing vocal support and strumming on the electric guitars, while all the additional rhythms are by 808Krshna

@musicsanthosh @dhruv.vikram @lyricist_vivek @adityaravindran95 @808krshna @meenakshi_santhoshnarayanan

4. Saagiren

Composed, Arranged and Produced by Nivas K Prasanna

Singers: Abhay Jodhpurkar, Shweta Mohan

Additional Vocals: Nivas K Prasanna

Lyricist: Ku Karthick

Those notes on the guitars and the execution are just irresistible, and it's played by Keba Jeremiah. You know that you are in for some fabulous sound design and production when Nivas K Prasanna is on the project. He has composed, arranged and produced this stunning number and when Abhay Jodhpurkar is the lead vocalist, be ready to be bowled over. 

The opening segment has some well-composed notes and I particularly love the lines "Pozhiyatha thooral enthan nadu nejil thooruthey" and Abhay's vibrato and emotional apt singing is brilliant. Ku Karthick writes terrific lines, and you feel like you are having a beautiful moment of death (saagiren) thanks to the music. Hevin Booster does all the additional programming, along with the mixing and mastering. We get a nice and pleasant interlude on the Piano, followed by Shweta Mohan's lines. 

The song is short without any stanza or a bridge section but the quality of the production, and vocal performances by Abhay and Shweta make up for it. The song reminds me of a terrific track called "Udayatha Vennila" by Vidyasagar and Hariharan. The recording engineers are Malvi Sundaresan, Nirmal JP and Alex Samuel Jenito

@nivas.k.prasanna @abhayjodhpurkar @_shwetamohan_ @kebajer @malvisundaresan @alexsamueljenito @hevinbooster 

5. Kan Moodudho

Curated by Sean Roldan & Arivu 

Written By: Kaber Vasuki 

Composed By: Sean Roldan 

Music Arranged & Produced by: Sean Roldan 

Genre: Lullaby

This project called Coke Studio Tamil Season has been good, and this is the 3rd song I am featuring. As has been the case the common factors have been that the songs are curated by Sean Roldan and Arivu, and the creative head is Kritika Nelson. 

The song is composed, arranged and produced by Sean with lyrics by the young talented indie musician Kaber Vasuki. We can hear the beautiful sound of the Yazh by Tharun Sekar and keyboards by Shyam Benjamin. Abinandan R joins with his acoustic guitars, the brilliant Rithu Vysakh plays the Violin and Lallit Talluri is on the flute. So much action happens even before we hear Chinmayi's voice.

Chinmayi Sripaada sizzles as the lead vocalist after the male vocals by John Pradeep JL talking to the child. All the splendid chorus is by the Indian Choral Ensemble with the voices of Kalyani Nair, Padmaja Sreenivasan, Annie Jennifer on Sopranos and Aparna Harikumar, Fathima Henna on Altos. Napier Naveen Kumar is the bassist and we can hear these multiple layers of vocals on different pitches. Kalyani Nair is in charge of Vocal arrangements and she does a stunning job. 

That interlude brings tears with the combined effect of the Violin, Flute and chorus. The stanza feels a little more pumped up as we get the percussions on board and energy levels are raised thanks to Guberan. I love how Chinmayi brings modifications to the notes singing " ro ro ri ro ro ri kann moodutho". The tracks are mixed and mastered by Toby Joseph at TobsGarage. The recording engineers are Riyasdeen Riyan, R.Elumalai Ebinazer, Samivel Mohan and Aswin George John 

@chinmayisripaada @johnpradeepjl @madrashe @cokestudiotamil @rseanroldan @therukural @shyambenjamin @abinandan_r @theindianchoralensemble @kabervasuki @rithuvysakh @lalittalluri @kalyaninair86 @napier_naveen @padmaja.07 @aparna_harikumarh @tharun_sekarohh_ohhoh @tobsgarage @aswin_george_john

6. Netrum Indrum

Music Composed and Produced by Sachin Warrier at Sway Studios

Lyrics - Thamarai

Singer - Sachin Warrier

Genre: Indie Pop

Sachin Warrier makes his Tamil music debut here, if Im not wrong, and he is fresh from a very interesting score that he completed for the Malayalam movie album "Pookkalam". Thamarai's lyrics are beautiful and fit the bill perfectly as Sachin composes, produces and sings this upbeat single.

Josy Alappuzha on the flute solo and Akash S on the acoustic guitar make headway and set the launchpad for Sachin to begin his performance. The song in its structure and style reminds me of Vidyasagar. The people responsible for some amazing strings in the BGM for the Malayalam movie '2018' handle the strings section here too and they call themselves Arioso Quintet (Subin Kumar, Sravan Krishnakumar, Albin Jose, Nibu Mathew, Anil Antony Alukkal). 

The song does have a trajectory of unpredictable notes and I was pleasantly shocked to hear the line "Indha Nadaga Arangil Natkal Nagaruthe" because it came out of the blue. The backing vocals and the humming are by the famous El Fé Choir by Roe Vincent. Sachin's singing also feels like the tone of singer Karthik. 

The stanza has some terrific notes, once again that I least expected like "Puriyatha Pala Kelvi vandhum, piriyadha varam vendi kolven" and this is top-notch both from a musical and lyrical perspective. The percussion used in the stanza is exciting and we have Sandeep PN on it along with Sumesh Parameswar on bass guitar. The tracks are mixed by Balu Thankachan, and mastered by Gethin John, with recording engineers Arjun B Nair, Nikhil Kakkochan and Sanjai Arakkal

@warriersach @josy_alappuzha @ariosoquintet @elfechoir @parameswarsumesh @thebaluthankachan 

7. Naangam Kadal Noaku Saalai

Performed by, Marshall Robinson

Written by Marshall Robinson

Lyrics : Veeba

Genre: Indie Pop

Anand Aravindakshan gets a second song this month and Marshall Robin has composed and produced this song which is out in multiple languages Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam. The singers in different languages are Romy, Gowtham Bharadwaj and KS Harisankar. The excellent lyrics come from Veeba, and apparently he was instrumental in this song being made as a project, with Marshall taking Veeba's poem and composing a tune for it. 

We begin with some funky guitars involving guitarists Bruce Lee and Elvis Gabriel who set the audio sets on fire. Arvind's vocals give a softer touch against the guitars and cool bass guitars by Derickk McArthur. Lalit Talluri's flute interventions add that folk flavour reminding us of rural India's beauty and bliss. The song reminds me of "Aval" by Santhosh Narayanan and Pradeep Kumar especially when I hear the lines "Nee kadal Devadhaiya, Udal poonchiliaya". Marshall plays the Keys. 

The stanza slows down and we get a very AR Rahman-esque soundscape which is not a bad thing at all. The guitars, Keys and rhythms in the background now have a new lead in the form of Lalit's flute and this sounds fantastic as an outro segment. 

@anand.aravindakshan.official @marshallrobinson.music @lalittalluri @abinpuspakaran @elvisgabriel @crazyfingers.bruce @bluacademy.in

8. Nam Ooru Pen

Music Composed and Produced: Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy

Vocals: Karthik, Sudharshan Ashok

Lyrics: Kabilan

Genre: Indie Pop

I recently visited Shimmr Studios when I was in Chennai to meet up with this talented young composer/producer Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy. It was a great day of musical discussions, and I happened to love the studio set-up and apparatus. This song is a composition by Ashwin for a movie back in 2017 and that is not seeing the light of day anytime soon, so he decided to release it as a single. 

The timeline is important because he has gotten unnecessary spit and flak for making Karthik sing a song on the greatness of Tamizh Penn. The song was sung way before any of the controversies sprang open. Karthik vocally does wonderfully well in this song which has the writing as a huge plus, thanks to Kabilan.

Karthik's whistle works well with the rhythms, keys and acoustic guitars combined. Karthik is accompanied by Sudharshan Ashok on vocals for the interesting start "takkunu bakkunu". Naveen Samson Benjamin plays the acoustic guitars and Sivanesh Natarajan is on the electric guitar. My favourite line is "Pattu pavadai kattum pattampoochiye, kootanchoru aaki thinnum kottankuchiye", with a nice musical chord progression here.

The arrangements are handled by Kausthub Ravi on Analog Synths and Keys, while Siva Prakasam, is in-charge of rhythms. We get a sense of rural Tamil Nadu in the interlude, as the Kazoo (representative of the Nadaswaram) played by Kausthub and Tavil by Saravanan come in. The stanza feels like a nice dance-pop and we get that AR Rahman flavour like "Enakkoru Girlfriend venum". 

I love the vocal harmonies and they are arranged by Sudharshan Ashok, Kausthub Ravi and Kevin Fernando. The song if you break it up into segments, it has many variations in the pallavi, anupallavi and charanam too, so kudos to Ashown for that. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Sivanesh Natarajan and RK Sundar and Sivanesh is also the recording engineer. 

@ashwinvinayagam @karthikmusicexp @kausthub_ravi @thekevinfernando @sivaneshnatarajan @rk.sundar @_naveensamson @shimmrstudios @prakasam138 @haikumusicco @sudharshan93 @kabilan_kavi

9. Urugi Urugi

Composer: Siddhu Kumar

Singer: Anand Aravindakshan

Lyrics: Vignesh Ramakrishna

Producer: Suresh Prasanna and Siddhu Kumar

Genre: Folk-pop

It has been quite a while since I last featured Siddhu Kumar, it was for the movie 'Sivappu Manjal Pachai ' I think. This new movie called Joe has a few good songs and this is the one I like the most. Anand Aravindakshan who also sang for Siddhu in the previous album, does a fine job on vocals here. the instruments that stand out and make it breezy are the Middle East strings by Tapas Roy, and bass and acoustic guitars by Keba Jeremiah. 

When the title line comes out, we have some good vocal harmony support singing the swaras by Siddhu Kumar, Abin Pushpakaran, Lakshmikanth M and Rathish Raghavendra. Siddhu and Prasanna Suresh get going on the programming and that is why we have the delectable and foot-tapping rhythms. All additional programming is thanks to AK Priyan, Lakshmikanth M and Vamsi Krishnan. 

Nadhan's flute plays in the interlude, and then Anand stuns you with his delivery of the beautiful notes "yaaro mooralo, thaeno pesum neramo" with interesting ghamakas. Vignesh Ramakrishna is the lyricist. The strings section decorates the background adding some nice flavours. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Abin Puhspakaran, with recording engineers Beniel Phelixx, Vishnu M Namboodhri and Avinash Sathish. Sowmya Prabhu is the artist's manager. 

@siddhukumar @anand.aravindakshan.official @mandolintapas @kebajer @officialprasannasuresh @abinpushpakaran @avinashsathish 

10. Vaa Senthazhini 

Singer - Sid Sriram

Lyrics - Bagavathy P K

Song Composed and Arranged by Justin Prabhakaran

Genre: Filmi Pop

Justin Prabhakaran continues to roll and after a very successful score and outing with "Pachuvum Arbutha Vilakkum" he's back in Kollywood for this project 'Adiye'. Sid Sriram is the lead vocalist, but it is the backing vocalists that strike hard with some well-arranged harmonies. The singers are Shibi Srinivasan, Velu, Sai Vignesh, Govind, Priya Prakash, Karpagam, Hemembiga and Deepthi Suresh.

Justin does the main programming and arrangements but Sebastian Sathish accompanies all the additional programming. The Keys start mild and then slowly the harmonies, bass guitars and drums combine beautifully. Naveen Napier plays the bass guitar, with Joshua Mark Raj on acoustic and electric guitars. We get a nice interlude on the Piano and right through the stanza, the constant presence of harmonies feels nice to hear. The recording engineers are Biju James and Abin Ponnachan. The mixing is by Balu Thankachan, assisted by Hariharan and Paul Daniel with mastering by Shadab Rayeen.

@prabhakaranjustin @napier_naveen @sidsriram @joshmarkraj @shibisrinivasan @sai_vignesh_r @deepthisureshofficial @thebaluthankachan @shadabrayeen 

11. Thee Thuliyile

Composed and Arranged by Barath Dhanasekar 

Lyricist - Hemanth Prakash 

Singer - Aishwerya Radhakrishnan 

Genre: Filmi Pop

Manonmani casts a spell with the Sarangi right at the start and you might be thinking this going to be some folk song. Wrong, after that we get Aishwerya Radhakrishnan singing in the pop flavour, it reminds me of "Roja Poo" from 'Agni Natchathiram'. The original lines played on the Sarangi are now sung by the lead in Telugu lyrics with superb style and coolness. 

Sam Soloman plays the acoustic guitar and Napier Naveen is the bassist. The interlude has more of the Sarangi and for a second there I was reminded of the interlude in "Urvashi Urvashi take it easy Urvashi". Sebastian Sathish does the keyboard programming with additional keys played by Anukoshy and Immanuel Raja. Aishwerya's vocals keep things breezy and the way she delivers those lines in the high pitch shows that she is skilled. Pavithran and Shivasai play the percussions. The song is mixed and mastered by Thiruvengadam with Sreehari assisting with the mix. 

@barath_dhanadekar @aishweryaradhakrishnan @percussion_pavithran @koshymusic10 @napier_naveen 

12. Thathalithen

Music Written, Performed, & Produced by Sharath Narayan

Genre: Indie Pop/ Blues

This musician is the frontman of the band Blackletters and I had just featured their single a few weeks ago called "Simpler Times". Then I came across some of Sharath Narayan's solo projects and I landed upon this nice song. This slow and gentle pop song almost sounds like Blues with those pathos-drenched vocals of Sharath.

He has written, composed produced and sung, playing the guitars too. Jay Unnithan's Piano does play in the background and he also performs on the strings. The arrangements are tight and work very well together. Jay is riding a wave and will be featuring him for his score in a Malayalam movie album soon. Prabhu Muraleedharan plays the gentle drums. Veronica does a good job writing these lyrics that touch your heart and Sharath makes no mistake in delivering the message.

The outro with the humming and the strings section feels quite engaging, not to forget the guitar strumming which is stylish and substantial. All the production, recording and mixing has transpired at the COSMA Studio in Bengaluru. Justin Colletti does the mastering. Rishabh Iyer does all the animation. 

@sharathnatayan @prabl0 @veronica_vodkaowisky @aniruddh.menon @__hijk @cosmastudio @wonderwall_records @stainedclassprod

13. Stronger 

Composer: Jaisef

Singer: Jaisef

Lyricist: Magesh Balakrishnan

Genre: Indie Pop

The guitar riffs impress straightaway and this kind of sound stays with you longer. Jaisef is someone I am featuring for the first time and he has done well on the singing as well as the composition. 

The keys and rhythms juxtapose well and create the pop effect, but where we get some creativity is the sound of the Tabla when Jaisef sings " taahyindi yaarum illai, neerindri bhoomi illai". Magesh Balajrishnan, the lyricist does quite well in penning these lines. The interlude is well composed bringing in the Sarangi at first and then the flute solo. I hope to hear more from Jaisef in the coming days.

@jaisef_musicproducer