Top Tamil Songs of October 2023

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

If you are a musician submit your new music here.

1. Maya Maya

SINGERS: PADMAPRIYA RAGHAVAN, CHRISTOPHER STANLEY

LYRICS: KARTHIK NETHA

SONG COMPOSED AND ARRANGED BY JUSTIN PRABHAKARAN

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music/ Pop

This light-hearted movie was wonderful to watch and had some amazing moments to cherish. The song sounds better when heard in the audio rather than in the movie "Irugapatru", but credit goes to Justin Prabhakaran for consistently giving us good songs to hum and sing. He has composed, arranged programmed with all additional programming by Sebastian Sathish. Padmapriya Raghavan is on fire with her vocals and she sings it with such grace and also induces a mild element of teasing and playfulness. 

The sound of the classical guitar played by Shirish Malhotra adds a layer of romance, and accompanying elements like the bass guitar by Naveen and Trumpets by Vijay, are spotless in execution and arrangements. The song feels like some Latin Pop thanks to the classical guitar and Christopher Stanley matches upto Padmapriya with some passionate vocals. I love the humming portions that make the song groovy. Then the combination of the rhythms and trumpets is gentle on the ears but gigantic on the hearts. 

Bharath Dhanasekar, a composer with very good talent handles the rhythm programming. The breezy melody will occupy your head for days. The recording engineers are Adhithya Sivakumar, and Kashyap Rammohan, mixing is Balu Thankachan with assistance from Paul Daniel. Gethin John at Hafod Mastering handles mastering duties. 

@prabhakaranjustin @padmapriya_pp @singerchristopherstanley @karthiknetha_official @adhithya.sivakumar @sebastiansathishmusic @thebaluthankachan @barath_dhanasekar

@shirishmalhotra 

2. Chella Kalliye

Song Composed and Arranged by Sam C.S

Singer : Kapil Kapilan

Lyrics: Sam C.S

Programmed by C.D. Anbumani

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music

The movie Parking is being appreciated by reviewers all over and it feels nice to know that good music is also present in good movies. Sam CS is probably at the peak of his powers and his list of scores both in Tamil and Malayalam is finally making the world notice his potential. Keba's acoustic guitars are almost played like the Ukulele and Kapil Kapilan just powers through with his fabulous vocals. The song just transforms into something impactful when the lines " enna maathina maayavi". Sam shines as a lyricist too here.  

Keba also plays the electric and bass guitars and Sam composes such an elaborate anupallavi segment here that we hear so many changes, arrangements, a humming etc. Kalyan's electric violin comes in as the interlude and Kiran plays the flute. The elaborate strings section is thanks to Chennai Strings Orchestra. The recording engineers are CD Anbumani, Abishek AR, S Aakash Edwin, with K Mahima Chowdhary as music production manager, Balu Thankachan as mix/master engineer 

@samcsmusic @thebaluthankachan @kebajer @cdanbumani @kapilkapilanmusic 

3. Nagaraatha Nodiyodu

Singer: Kapil Kapilan 

Song composed arranged and programmed by Sam CS

Lyrics: Karthik Netha 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Light Music

The second Sam CS song featuring this month is from an album called " The Road". He is proving that he works on different projects with the same amount of commitment. Kapil Kapilan is the perfect vocalist for delivering this intense song and he does justice to the melody.

This song may have some traces of Keeravani Ragam and the instrumental arrangements are beyond excellent. Balaji plays the solo violin and Vishnu Vijay plays the solo flute at one point and melts our hearts. The strong Piano makes me feel like I am listening to a bit of Ilaiyaraja's "Unna Nenachu" from the movie 'Psycho'. The intense strings section in the background as Kapil sings " Vazhve en mel yen vanmam, yaarin kopam an vazhkaiyo". Karthik Netha writes impactful lines. Joseph Vijay plays the guitars for this song. 

This could very well become the go-to sad song of the season, so well done Sam. The melody and lyrics keep getting incredibly passionate as we come to the stanza segment with lines like "pizhaiye neethi, athuva sethi" just constantly resonating. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Avinash Sathish with Music Production Manager, K Mahima Chowdhary, recording engineers CD Anbumani, Abishek Ar, S Aakash 

Edwin 

@karthiknetha_official @samcsmusic @kapilkapilanmusic @cdanbumani @vishnuvijay01 @avinashsathish @supervijayoffl 

4. Amoodhamooru

Singer and Performer : Maalavika Sundar

Music Producer, Mix, and Master: Clifr

Original: Amudhamooru was originally written by Arunagirinathar

Language: Tamil

Genre: Classical-Pop/ Symphony

This is exactly how you take an old famous song and give it a terrific and creative twist. Kudos to Clifr for re-imagining the old gem written by Arulagirinathar. The song has influences of Raag SIndhubhairavi according to me. The vocals of Maalavika Sundar are stupendous and could be one of the best we have heard this year. The ghamakas are sound next to impossible.

The chorus is just world-class and we have amazing singers on the job like Shridhar Ramesh, Gowthami Ashok, Sushmita Narasimhan and Pranjal Thakore. Clifr creates so much awe thanks to the arrangements, programming, and production and he also does the mixing and mastering. The segment with the swaras, accompanied by the guitars and choral humming is stunning. The interlude on electric guitars, Piano and choral intervention projects Clifr's skill as a producer. 

@sundarmaalavika @clifr_ @gowthamiashok @sushmita_narasimhan @shridhar_ramesh @pranjalthakore @dooshmoosh @rohin.roy 

5. Hey Kadhali

Vocals, Composition & Arrangements: Aalaap Raju

Lyrics: Madhan Karky

Language: Tamil

Genre: Indie Pop

Aalaap Raju is known as an excellent singer and guitarist, but in his slightly newer avatar as a composer, we get a delightful song. The beautiful acoustic guitars by Raju invite us into his world and we have no option but to fall in love with the tune. The Piano joins along with the guitars and Bhuvanesh Natarajan takes that responsibility for playing the Piano and also handling all additional programming. 

He brings in an additional layer of vocals, but the interlude on the electric guitars, and the mild Fretless Bass is nothing less than immersive. I love the beginning of the stanza which some beautiful notes, words and the fretless bass touch your heart if you pay attention.

The lines that I am talking about are " Kadhai pesinaal imai kottu nee, silaiyodu dhaan kadhaikkindren, ena thondrum". The lyricist is Madhan Karky and he shows his potential and train of thought as a writer here. The humming and the Piano just put me off to sleep like a baby in the outro. The whole song somehow took me back to "Time After Time" Cyndi Lauper. The recording engineer is Lijesh Kumar, with mixing by Aalaap Raju and mastering by Vivek Thomas. 

@aalaapraju @madhankarky @divomusicofficial @bhuvanesh_keys @vivekthomasproductions

6. Iru Perum Nadhigal

Composed & Arranged by: Khatija Rahman 

Singer: Shakthisree Gopalan 

Lyricist: Halitha Shameem 

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

I am so happy to see Khatija Rahman graduate into a full-blown composer and she does exhibit potential here. Kudos to director Halitha Shameem for always promoting young talent and this is the greatest service one can do to art itself. The moment I heard it I felt like I was travelling on a long and winding road with the breeze on my hair and cheeks. Well, I didn't see the music video at that time and later I found out that it is a travel-themed song. 

It goes to show that Khatija understood the brief and executed the job to perfection. Shakthisree is finally getting all the offers she deserves and when she is in full flow, not many playback singers can match up to her. Here she pokes you with her gentle and baritone vocals. Pradvay Sivashankar does the whistles and the song's interlude goes through quite a few shifts like the western-classical sounding strings section and then the Indian folkish rhythms. 

Khatija handles all the arrangements, but we have Mari Shakti and Prashanth Venkat on programming, with rhythms handled by Kumar Sivamani. Halitha's beautiful lines make for great listening especially with Shaktisree's delivery. "Iru perum nadhigal inainthidum oru jathiyil" probably also refers to the varying styles of music in the song coming together. The Sunshine Orchestra delights us with their strings and we have Srikant Krishna on score preparation and orchestration, with Jerry Vincent conducting the session. 

Guberan plays the percussion and Keba Jeremiah's electric guitar solo towards the end combines beautifully and we also have Nikhil Ram on the flute. The sound engineers are Pradeep Menon, Sathya Narayanan, Ainul Huq, Prashanth Venkat, Aravind Crescendo, Sathish V Saravanan, and Bharath Arjunan, with mixing and mastering by Pradeep Menon. The Atmos Music Mix & Master is by Riyasdeen Riyan. Sreekanth Hariharan is the vocal supervisor, Srikant Krishna is the music supervisor and the vocal producer is Suryansh. Interestingly the sound of is river was created by Krishnan Subramanian

@khatija.rahman @halithashameem @shakthisreegopalan @thinkmusicoffial @nikhilramtp @kebajer @riyasdeenriyan @sreekanthhariharan @prashanth_._venkat @marisakthi @sathya.musician @thesunshineorchestra 

7. Azhagu Chellam

Song Composed, Arranged and Programmed by - SAM CS

Singer: Haricharan, Bhuvana Ananth

Lyrics: Mohan Rajan

Language: Tamil

Genre: Dance/Light Music

The dominance of Sam CS continues this month with another song but from a different movie album called "Raid". He brings in a long-time associate Bhuvana Ananth to perform the female lead vocals. Mhand Rajan writes these cute and romantic lyrics and Bhuvana delivers it with a bit of tease and a lot of style. The arrangements and programming once again stand out and put Sam CS in a coterie of A-list composers in Kollywood. 

The anu pallavi is punctuated with beautiful solo violin notes by Kalyan, and Joseph Vijay is the bassist in charge. A surprising role for Haricharam to sing such peppy dance-style segments "adi adi adiye enna tholacchen". As expected he shows that he is a modern-day SPB capable of singing all styles with equal ease. Shruthi Raj creates the perfect environment for dance here with his rhythms. 

Kiran's flute solo follows the mouth trumpet and the continued rhythmic pleasure takes the song forward. Bhuvana anoints us with even more grace as the stanza begins and Joseph Vijay makes the guitars sound stunning right through on acoustic, electric and bass guitars. It has been a while since we have had a nice long stanza in Kollywood, and Sam CS gives us what we have been yearning for. 

There could be traces of Keeravani Ragam in places and Joseph's electric guitar interventions are outstanding towards the end when the anu Pallavi is performed by Bhuvana. The tracks are mixed and mastered by Balu Thankachan @ 20db black Studio, assisted by Paul Daniel and Hariharan

@supervijayoffl @thebaluthankachan @samcsmusical @haricharanmusic @bhuvana_ananth 

 8. Badass

Lyrics - Vishnu Edavan

Vocals - Anirudh Ravichander

Composed, Arranged and programmed by Anirudh Ravichander 

Additional Vocals by Prudhvi Chandra

Language: Tamil

Genre: ALt-Rock

I didn't like the OST of "Leo" much but this song definitely stood out and worked well in the movie too. Anirudh has been having a relatively weak year in 2023 according to me but this song is one of the few that showcase his abilities. Anirudh has composed, arranged, programmed and most importantly sung him. 

The way he sings the line " ithu varaiyula nallavan irundhan, indha katahiyula ratchasa muganthan", in a way only he can sing and elevate the song's intensity and pump the adrenaline. Keba Jeremiah is splendid playing the electric guitars right through creating even more sparks. Vishnu Edavan has penned the lyrics with superb gusto and thought. 

Rakesh's trumpet solo plays in the interlude and the El fe Choir by Roe Vincent is having a ball in the backing vocals. All the energetic rhythms are produced by Shashank Vijay, with Arish and Pradeep PJ on additional keyboard programming. The way the song ends with the electric guitar riffs, reminded me of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"' intro by GreenDay. We have Vinay Sridhar & Srinivasan M at Albuquerque Records, Chennai on mixing duties and the mastering is by Luca Pretolesi at Studio DMI, Las Vegas

@anirudhofficial @prudhvichandrap @vishnuedavanofficial @kebajer @elfechoir @shankstep 

9. Kadal Alai

Performed by Mahesh Raghvan, Shriram Iyer

Written by Mahesh Raghvan, Shriram Iyer

Lyrics: Pa. Hariharan

Language: Tamil

Genre: Classical Fusion

The renowned young musician is more than just a live performer, he is also a composer and producer. Mahesh wrote this melody along with Shriram Iyer and Pa. Hariharan penned the lyrics. We have Shriram Iyer on lead vocals and all the fancy production by Mahesh. 

The writing is very beautiful and Shriram executes the vocals with wonderful poise. I did sense some Raag Yaman in the lines "theeramale, theendamale, poove nee nenjile nirkiraay". The gentle pop style works well to fuse the classical Carnatic notes. The GeoShred dominates the interlude and feels like a Mohan Veena or just an electric guitar in effect. The Pallavi and anupallavi are accompanied by an equally melodious and pure stanza. 

@followingmahesh @shriram_iyer @hariharann___

10. Mohabbat

Composed by Project Malabaricus

Vocals: Sithara Krishnakumar

Tamil Lyrics: Sangeeth Ravindran

Malayalam slogan: BK Harinarayanan

Genre: Rock

This is a brilliant act, Project Malabaricus, with the phenomenal Sithara Krishnakumar in the lead. She is such a gifted vocalist that she shifts from one style to another like a knife through butter. This Rock single has mainly Tamil lyrics with some intermittent Malayalam slogans by the legend BK Harinarayanan. It all begins with the stunning electric guitars played by Liboy Praisly Kripesh, Vijo Job and Midhun Paul on drums.

If there was one thing that I would have loved more, is that Sitharas voice could have been placed higher on the decibel level compared to the background arrangements, but maybe this was the idea of the band. We have Srinath Nair as the keyboardist and Ajay Krishnan on bass guitars. 

The electric guitar solo close to the 2nd minute provides a nice interlude. The lyrics are so meaningful both in Tamil and MAlayalm and call for the freedom to love anyone and anything. The assertiveness in the lyrics and singing is magnified by the ferocity of the instrumentals. Sreejesh Nair is the mixing engineer AuO2 Studios, Kochi and the tracks are mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, Nashville. We have Praveen PY, Anandakrishnan J, and Siddharth S Nair as the recording engineers. 

@srinath_nair_ @midhun.paul @liboypraisly @vijojob @the_isolated_alien @sitharakrishnakumar @theeyeofsree @projectmalabaricus 

@sangeeth_ravindranathan @wonderwall_media

11. Vinnmin

Performed by Prithivee, Shabir Sulthan

Written by Shabir Sulthan

Produced by Shabir Sulthan

Language: Tamil

Genre: Electronic Pop

If you want someone to produce and compose a fun and breezy semi-classical pop song, I would straightaway go to Shabir. He has written the melody and lyrics for this cool single and I can definitely hear traces of Abheri Ragam. The song scores high not just on the tune but the production as well and all the creative elements Shabir brings on board.

The interlude has Nadaswaram sounds as well as the Sarangi, probably an attempt to unite Southern and Northern musical influences. Shabir's unique vocal texture is a plus and he puts it to good use here, with Prithvee joining as the female lead. She makes the song relevant and trippy for modern tastes, and in one line "thagaval solli varuvadhillai kaadhal" she wins us all over. The acoustic guitar in the end is a super way to end the song. 

@shabirmusic @prithiveeofficial 

12. Manam

Performed by Sandhya Chari

Written by Sandhya Chari

Produced by Kroos Music

Language: Tamil

Genre: Pop

Sandhya Chari has written the melody and the lyrics as well, and I feel the English lines sound much better than the Tamil ones. Sandhya is however equally potent as a vocalist in delivering the lines in both Tamil and English

Kroos Music has produced the single and the song gets elevated thanks to the peppy rhythms and keys, synths. The solo violin interlude is one unforgettable highlight in the song and makes me come back to the song.

@sandhyachari @kroosmusic