Fresh Single Review - Pi Pi Dum Dum song

It starts off and takes me back many decades in time to “Aduthathu Ambujatha� which was an iconic song in all of Tamil music. Krithika Nelson is a musician that caught my attention a few months ago with a splendid track called Nee/Naan and like I have always claimed, there can be nothing more gratifying than listening to a composer who knows exactly what she wants to express and executes it with perfection.

Now let us go back to this track at hand I love the visual imagery is conveyed brilliantly through the singing, instrumental programming and arrangements. The Thavil is positioned perfectly and the rhythms programming must be applauded. Krithika has composed, written and sung this one and isn’t she rising? What absolutely thrills me is that she just shifted gears and planes from her Nee/Naan which had pathos and sobriety to Pi Pi Dum Dum which is a rush of sugar and spice coated all over a joyful wedding scene. The vocals add important layers to the track and this is where Arjun Chidambaram is involved. The “Pi pi pi� humming is excellent and reminds me a lot of Dhee’s texture and tonality, and Arjun takes up the lead position also singing some lines in between. The “I am only here for the sappaduppa� is witty and relevant considering how true it is for most people attending weddings.

The acoustic and bass guitars provide just enough string support without disturbing whatever transpires in the foreground. The Nadaswaram has a Lo-fi modulation which is interesting and to put all the Pi Pi and Dum Dum as vocal sounds rather than instruments is innovative. I can see how this song can certainly be a very good choice to be played during the marriage season as a nice ice-breaker between the bride and bride-groom’s families

The lyrical video has some funny and apt animation by Shyam Kabi who has also done the VFX. S Manikandan handles the art direction and illustration. A person who grew up in TN and especially would know what “kadala podarthu� or “kadala varukkarthu� would mean and it is interesting how those animated groundnuts are depicted. When I heard the lyrics and song I was eager to know how the video would turn out, and it is intriguing without any disappointment. Why did I assume that the girl saying “I’m only here for the sappadu pa� was just a relative attending the wedding? The real twist was knowing it was the brides singing these words!

The track is produced by Jerin C Raj and mixed and mastered by Mervin T Thomas. In all fairness I have come to expect even more from Krithika and that is not a bad thing for any artists to hear. Her singing and creativity stand apart in this one but she needs to and she can extract much more from her repository to give us all music of even higher quality.