Best Indian tracks of the week - 17th October 2021
This is the week's best music from across the nation. Music from every state written in every language, composed as a part of Movies and by Indie artists is listened to and after analyzing more than 300 tracks released in the week ending 17th October 2021, I have rated and reviewed the 16 absolute best tracks in the country. This is truly India's ONLY multilingual music review and music curation page. Week after week, without any breaks you will get the review and links to the best work from musicians all over the country.
Find the full playlist of 16 tracks on SPOTIFY
1. State of the art
I love the title, and though it does seem like it means “high quality� as a phrase, I believe Ananya Sharma wants to talk about the state in which this art-form also is in viz. music. Ths Mumbai based singer-songwriter goes on to sing about that delicate balance between quality and likability. The track starts off with Ananya’s enticing vocals but closely supported by the Keys. Anurag Naidu doesn’t just play support staff here, a d you can imagine that the track would sound flat without the Pianos, even though Ananya adds a meaty layer of vocals in there. The writing gets deeper almost drawing the picture of what a musician feels every-day in today’s world, but then we are drawn to the flowing strings section in the background. It is not just one, but at-least a couple of layers of instrumental arrangements that reverberates in your mind thanks to the work of Luca Petracca who has done the strings arrangements. I would have closed my eyes every-time I played this track just so that the noise and distraction from the outside world stays away. The use of harmonies right at the end adds a wonderful vocal layer in addition to the instruments. The track is mixed and mastered by Nirmit Shah.
2. Vennelo
Truly Telugu music scene is unstoppable now, and I wouldn’t mind telling that again and again, because that seems to be the truth. When you want quality to be delivered “Just Call Anurag�. He is one of the best in the game and there is not a genre he cannot crack. R R Dhruvan a.k.a. Raghuram is the composer for this song from the movie “Miles of Love� and he also has written the lyrics for the track. The violins at the start are like a curtain raiser lifting slowly and beautifully for the act on stage to begin. The guitars add an element of romance against the serious backdrop of violins, all leading up-to Anurag’s vocals. The bass guitars, harmonies and rhythms are subtle but stylish additions in the opening segment itself. The violin’s brilliance emerges again in the interludes and the notes are so amazing that they remind me of a Genius names Ilaiyaraja. Just wait for the mind-blowing harmonies during the line “nammaleni theeru lona�. Kudos to the composer for this vision and execution.
3. Believe in you
Tannison Mathews impressed me a few months ago with his single “More of anything� and I had it reviewed and listed in my rankings of the weekly best of Indian music. This one too is written, composed and produced and performed by Tannison. Wilson Lakra is the co-producer and the audio output is top-notch for this one. Tannison is much more than just a musician, as this young singer-songwriter from Bhopal also is the co-founder of a positive-news and constructive journalism led magazine called The Optimist Citizen. The Keys and Strings section are the highlights of this track as they grow on you with every passing in second. The interjection of the strings are also perfect in placement as they allow all the focus on Tannison’s voice and lines at times and then when the emotions need to be kindled, the strings rise, helped further by some back-up vocals and harmonies. Hansraj Shankushal has recorded the track.
4. Jei Aynan Dekhcho mukh
A few years ago I was roaming around the City of Joy along with my wife and there was this wonderful concert featuring the band Fakira at the Rabindra Sarobar and I was stunned by the quality of the singing and the overall performance and this was long before I tried my hand at reviewing music. I am so elated to review a song now featuring the lead vocalist of the band who is also known to many as Timir Biswas. He has Arijit Paul and Subhadeep Pan also as lead vocalists in this track written, conceptualized and composed by Diganta Das. Pranjal Das and Sagi have also played their part in writing the lyrics. The guitar becomes a crucial companion in the track especially the electric guitar which makes it sound like a rock number thanks to Chayan Chakraborthy (watch out for a solid solo near the 3-minute mark). Sandipan Parial is scintillating on the drums ably supported by Diganta and Prasanto Mahato on bass guitars. Other percussionists in the track are Gaurab Chaterjee on Dubki, Arnab on Cajon and Dasgupta on the Tabla. Nabarun Bose plays the Keys and Srirup Chatterjee does the mixing and mastering. I have a sense of satisfaction when the track draws to a close for the sheer nature of this track being a classic rock number with no loose ends.
5. Malupu
We have the second Telugu track in the top 6 and this is by an artist I have not heard before, so the talent just keeps surprising me more and more. Manish Kumar sings and composes this fabulous number. I really can’t make out whether I like his singing or score more, but it’s a delightful dilemma to have. He also has arranged and produced the track which has become a huge hit on social media, and why wouldn’t it? We got to hand it down to Keba Jeremiah for being brilliant on guitars both acoustic and bass. The interlude is decorated with the Strings played by Balaji and team and then the flute by Satish. Keba manages to get your attention in the background even amidst all this. Saroja’s Dilruba shines through in the background during the charanam portions. The lines in the end of the verse than land on the pallavi are excellently structured with a chorus of female voices in the background, comprising of Pavani, Kavya, Vyshu Maya, Brinda and Manju. There are some portions with a solo female lead sung by Pavani. The track is mixed by Sabin Jose and mastered by Tamil composer Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy. All additional programming is by Ajmal while strings are recorded by KK Senthil Prasath, guitars and bass by Ashwin, Dilrub and flute recorded by Bhavani Rakesh and male lead vocals recorded by Bhavani and Aditya. The lyricist is Kittu Vissapragada
6. Madhu Radhiye
The music culture in Sri Lanka is quite string and vibrant and some of the very popular Tamil songs emerge from that small island nation. Here we have Super Singer (Tamil reality show) winner from the very first season Nikhil Mathew taking the lead vocalist role and smashing it. The track is a perfect example of melody should be inter-twined with modern sounds and let us thank Smith Asher for this composition. He has also arranged, programmed, mixed and mastered the track and co-written the lyrics with Kisski Kishore. Smith belongs to this boy band from Sri Lanka called Teakada Pasanga which means “boys who meet up at the tea shop� and the band comprises of Krish Manoj and Nirosh Vijay. The guitars are played by Smith himself and they keep playing with Nikhil’s enchanting vocals in the foreground. Amriytha Amarnath comes and goes wither mild humming in the interlude. The verse is nicely composed as well, with all singers chipping in with fantastic cameos.
7. Manasulone Nilichipoke
Vishal Chandrasekar is the composer for this enchanting melody sung by none other than Chinmayi Sripaada. There is a definitely touch of Karaharapriya that I sense, and Vishal is gifted and using popular ragas as a base to further his own style and execute them well. Punya Srininvas is a rock Tsar not just a rock star on Veena and she displays that in this track almost competeing for the top performance spot with Chinmayi. Sindhuri’s back-up vocals add a nice layer but Chris Jason on bass guitars is simply unavoidable. It is time to focus on the fabulous interlude solo on the Veena and when the verse begins, you get a sense of the rhythm and keys both played by Vishal with assistance from Arvind Raghunath. Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry is the lyricist. The track is mixed and mastered by Ishit Kuberkar while Avinash and Hariharan are the recording engineers.
8. Nahi Rehna
The duo Abhin & Tanish first grabbed my attention with Sab Baatein Hai, which ended up being the best Indian track of that week back in August. This track too is written and composed by the duo and the track deals with escaping the pressures and demands of the modern world, in search of love and peace. The guitars are strummed to great effect with Abhin Joshi singing the lines “Nahi Rehna� filled with grief. Aman Arakh has produced, mixed and mastered the track along with another popular indie artist Sayantika Ghosh. She has also done the backing vocals for this track. The electric guitar solo is a wonderful piece pas the 1-minute mark with mild vocals from Sayantika. The outro portion is a good union of vocals, drums and guitars before ending it like calm after the storm.
9. Tu Aawaaz hain
Hriday Gattani is an exciting young talent and not only does he sing for AR Rahman from time to time, I in-fact had come to like his compositions very much. His previous single with Sunidhi Chauhan was at the number 3rd spot for the back in July and here too doesn’t fail to surprise me positively. This is a one man show unlike the previous single as he writes, composes, performs, produces, mixes and masters his way to glory. The violins and guitars start off but it is so difficult to pay attention to anything else but his creative vocals laden with vibrato. One can clearly sense the hunger in Hriday’s vision when he creates music, when it is so simple to make any run-of-the-mill music and search for likes, views and other metrics. The predominant sound of violins programmed takes away the cake.
10. Humnava
A complete surprise package this one was for me, as I had no idea or prior knowledge of the musician, Kabeer Ali. It starts off brilliantly with the guitars and just hearing those notes I knew there was something worthy enough to listen to. The track is written, composed and also performed by Kaber Ali, and there are some backing vocal arrangements in the. The composer ups the ante after the first 60 seconds and that is when this feels like a rock number from just being a casual romantic track. The introduction of the heavy drums and electric guitars is a worthy addition in this track produced by Anubhav Silas. The line “Chali Chali� is the highlight showcasing Kabeer Ali’s singing and having some fantastic electric guitar bits at the end. background. Mixing and Mastering and Co Production is done by Ankit Silas. Bhakti Kalidhar is credited with making the lyric video. The track is a total blast and in the end you are left wanting more.
11. Teri Meri Jo
With every new release, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma sky-rockets in to my book of favorite and dependable musical talents. I have featured and reviewed at-least 3 tracks that he’s been involved in and “Teri Meri Jo� is a heartwarming number involving some very creative facets. It is the 4th track in his album “Navaras� and Rishab has sung, produced and most importantly sizzled with the Sitar. The choir plays a huge role in the outcome of the track and the participants are Anushka Mahajan, Brandon Allen, Dale Stuckenbruck, Lukas Roamanski, Manjul Sharma, Pavitra Rajeev, Priya Venkatesh, Rama Gopalakrishnan, Riddhi Thakar, Sanjay Sharma and Suman Mallipattana. The video also is quite engaging shot inside the Flushing Ganesh Temple in NY with dancers Pavitra and Suhana Jag. It starts off like a Gospel thanks to the choir but slowly moves in to classical Indian mode with influences of Raag Hamsadhwani which becomes very evident in the solo Sitar interlude. The bassist is Alex Desiveres, Vishali Bawa handles the cover art-work. Rishab excels at the singing bits as well, and I especially love the vibrato before landing on the chorus humming in the end.
12. Bayaan
2020 was a phenomenal year for Dhruv Visvanath with some fabulous hits, and regular features in my rankings and I even used to call him our own Phil Collins. Now he goes a step further and produces some amazing music, and in the process helping other young musical artists to shine. Siddharth Bhargav a.k.a. SidB has written, composed and sung this very breezy track that I fell in love with the very first time itself. The guitars help the mind flow to a calmer place, and what works really well other than the lead vocals are the harmonies thanks to both SidB and Dhruv. The track feels like a river gaining stronger currents and flowing with ferocity and the keys played swiftly in the background add to this. SidB manages to sing for a considerable stretch of time in the falsetto tone and in the closing stages the fine production and programming come together really well. Dhruv has also mixed and mastered the track.
13. O Raahi
Rajiv Sundaresan is making this a habit, and a good one at that. It was his Darmiyaan a couple of weeks ago in this list and he is back again with another humdinger. Here he works with singer Yashita Sharma and the duet is a fast-paced romantic number which can easily disguise itself as a dance number as well. Nyzel Dlima is fantastic on his constant role as the guitarist in the track and from then on it is all about the programming and production work helped a great deal by Abhishek Ghatak’s mixing and mastering. If Rajivs’ vocals add energy, Yashita’s adds elegance and that is why this track has something to offer to everyone. Rajiv experiments with full freedom in the last 1 minute or so and that is when the track treads paths that you wouldn’t expect. Kudos to Merchant Records once again for being the label behind this number.
14. Safar aur Baarish
Who doesn’t love music back form the 90s, especially global pop back then. This three-man band is formed by musicians who hail from Uttarakhand but they met in Ludhiana. The name of the band is philosophical, coined from two words Raw and Materials, indicating how the base for anything refined, proceed and final is this initial input. Krishna Singh is the lead vocalist and he has written and composed this number with Robin Raturi on drums and Amit Rawat on guitars. Krishna’s vocals soar as high as the hills they travel to in the video and trio make sure they maintain the tune’s trajectory true to its melody. The track is produced by Pop Shop Music.
15. Tere Jaisa
This series did really impress thanks to some excellent writing and performances and the sequel season had some exciting music by Karthik Rao. The song Tere Jaisa stood out and it has been written and composed by Vaibhav Bundhoo. It is produced by Keshav Dhar and Vaibhav, and to bring in one of the finest female vocalists in Kamakshi Khanna was the game-changer. The tonality of her voice is unparalleled and she elevates the track to something that sticks on your mind for long. The keys and guitars are like two guiding lines that help the track stay true to its genre. The gospel-styled harmonies and basslines are unmistakably good. Vaibhav makes a late entry as the vocalist and he delivers it with style. We get a very enjoyable 90 seconds or more in the end having both the lead vocalists, and harmonies coming together to leave an after-taste filled with love and romance.
16. Fear
Shilpa Ananth is dynamite packed into a small box, and she is too many things with too many talents and someone with her abilities can never be chained and that is what this song probably indicates, about the victory of good and able over evil. Shilpa taught singing and songwriting at Abu Dhabi’s Berklee College of Music and she can sing in numerous languages like English, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Arabic. This one is an English track and I love the sounds, the creativity and the execution more than anything. Well begun is half done, and wow I loved when the track started with the Mridangam. That is the last instrument I would have expected in an English track. This one is produced and mixed by Drew of the Drew. About a few seconds later we have a lot of synth programming making it a modern dance-pop number but Shilpa adds through her delivery the element of aalap to make it sound like a south Indian Carnatic track. MO3Z handles the percussion and drums are played by Corey Fonville. The line spinning out of control is a perfect example of what I enjoyed and want to stress. The bass guitars add another layer of funkiness and style to the track mastered by Jett Galindo. Enjoy how the percussion and tempo change closer to the 2-minute mark when she sings âœDo I fight?
Author
I write album and song reviews of Tamil music every month for Behindwoods. You can also call me a sports nut, especially football, and I used to write articles on sportskeeda.com. I am a die-hard Argentina football fan and have travelled to South Africa and Russia to witness the FIFA world cup games. It is not just music, I love movies as well and you will find me quoting dialogues and moments from a lot of movies, as I believe every movie teaches me something new about life itself.