Top indian songs for the week 3rd July 2022

1. Oh Mama

Composer – Anurag Saikia

Singer – Neha Karode

Language – English

Genre – Pop, Jazz

Musicians – Ishan Das, Gauranga Shekhar, Arabinda Neog, Dipakshi Kalita, Pratikhyaa Sarma, Bishal Sharma, Nawaz Hussian, Jitendra Javda

Movie - Anek

It really feels amazing when you rate a musician highly and constantly review and feature their great work, and soon enough one of the best composers in the land uses that singer for one of his/her scores in a big banner movie album.  OK let me break all the suspense, the singer/musician I am talking about is Neha Karode and she just sang for Anurag Saikia in the recently released “Anek”. Neha has been featured multiple times on my music reviews and Indian playlists and she always makes it right to the top. Go check out her number 1 songs of the past like “Lat Uljhi” and “Piya Bin”. Anurag never ceases to impress and where he makes several strides as a composer in this album is the diverse styles that he brings to the table. The song is sung by Neha and Anurag, with Anubhav Sinha, the director himself writing the lyrics. This is a vocalist’s dream come true to be able to get a song that demands so much from you vocally and Neha smashes it like a nut with a hammer. Oblong Sioni and Ishan Das produce the track and though I haven’t seen the movie to judge the point where the song comes, it still has a considerable impact on the listener. The sounds are unique along with some fabulous backing vocals by Gauranga Shekhar, Arabinda Neog, Dipakshi Kalita, Pratikhyaa Sarma, and Bishal Sharma. The keys and bass guitars combine to add gravity but the strings elevate the song which is owned by Neha for her impeccable delivery. How she manages to sing a song with such westernized Jazz influences might be new to some but, for those who have heard her production of classical-Jazz fusions, this is right down her alley.  The juxtaposition of the drums, electric guitars and humming just energizes the song.  Ishan plays the guitars and Nawaz Hussain is on the drums. The Violin and Viola have been brilliantly played by Jitendra Javda. The track is mixed and mastered by Pankaj Borah with Pranjal Borah as his mix assistant. Rupjit, Pranjal, Ashish Anand and Utkarsh Parab are the recording engineers and the drums alone have been mixed by Akash Sawant.

2. Bekal - Aditya Kalway

Composer, Singer, Lyricist – Aditya Kalway

Language – English

Genre – Pop, Semi-Classical

Musicians – Muheet Bharti, Salim Sulaiman

I always get thrilled when I see Aditya Kalway’s name because he is the man behind “kalabaaziyaan” a song that probably instilled belief in me that excellent music still exists and indie musicians have taken that mantle away from Bollywood at least. He doesn’t disappoint me at all and even after that massive number Aditya got featured for 2 more of his wonderful numbers “Aasman ke raaz” and “Aakhri zarra”. This one here is loaded with stars like a galaxy of its own and every musician here has been featured multiple times even before you listen to the track on the Spotify link below, your expectations should be reaching a steady rise. Aditya has a voice that can make many vocalists jealous and thank God he is not one of those Arijit Singh copycats who I am tired of. As a music reviewer, it is a delight listening to his music and even better writing about it as he sticks to the knitting of what good music is all about – Melody. Great words and instruments aside a good tune will always connect well and create the necessary impact and ‘Bekal’ is exactly proof of that. Muheet Bharti is another phenomenal musician, and I will be featuring his new single soon here, and he plays the guitars with the Strings by the Violin/Viola duo called Severn Duo which I recently featured in. The Keys along with guitars guide the structural backbone of the song with Aditya's delightful voice taking over every ounce of our attention. Look at how he sings these lines “Mann ye zyada bekal sa, Tera chehra ek hal sa” with those delicate vibratos. In the subsequent lines, you can hear the splendid strings as they intervene in quick bursts, arranged by Salim Sulaiman. The bridge segment begins with “baat me teri itna asar kyun hai’ and this is when the strings amp up in the background. Ajinkya Dhapara does the mixing and mastering for the track with Virat Bhushetty’s assistance. The song written, composed and sung by AdityaKalway is the answer to your dull and uninspiring day and it has some fragments of similarities to “Kuch na kahom Kuch bhi na kaho” by the gigantic RD Burman, and I don’t think Aditya will mind that comparison one bit.

3. I thought you were the one

Band - Peach

Language – English

Genre – Pop, Alt-pop

Musicians – Shristee Bhitri Kothi, Vimarsh Pandita, Ali Armaan Zaivi, Archit Agarwal, Himanshu Rawat

I have heard this expression often referring to something as ‘Peach’, almost calling it the best of the lot. Well, This 3-member band from Dehradun sure sounds like a ‘peach of a band’ who goes by the name ‘peach’. The band is just over 1 year old but they seem to be creating and performing at a level that to me by astonishing. We as lovers of music can only be thankful that 3 individuals gave up their professional careers in other fields and have decided to give their everything for music. Vimarsh Pandita is the lyricist and composer, and he along with Ali Armaan Zaivi are the guitarists with Ali also being the producer. Shristee Bhitri Kothi is the vocalist, and together they cook up something tasty. Let us hope the other tracks in their debut EP ‘Confluence’ turn out to be as good and even with half as good as this, they would be worth our time. The bass guitars do the bulk of the heavy lifting at the beginning of the track, and soon enough Shristee charms her with that voice. Peculiarly the opening lines very much follow a scale that reminds me of “Take me home” by Phil Collins. The Keyboards by Archit Agarwal, bass guitars by Himanshu Rawat and drums provide all the necessary support but Shristee truly sounds enchanting. Listen to the guitar notes strumming about when the lines go “With every passing hour, wonder if you think of me”, and I felt like the guitarists just wanted to get noticed by the listener saying, “hey you music lover, did you think of us”. Prakhar Kumar does the mastering for the track.

4. I’m Tired

Composer, singer, and lyricist – Trisha

Language – English

Genre – Pop, Ballad

Producer – Krimson Avenue Studios

This is a teenage sensation, and I am not just saying that. Trisha prefers the lowercase t, and at an age when Indians in America participate in spelling bees, this 14-year-old just released a fantastic single written, composed and sung with exuberance unlimited. If this is how she scores and sings when she’s tired, wonder how the music would sound at the peak of her energies. Krimson Avenue Studios plays a vital role in the production of this song and when you hear you will know the value of a strong and dependable production house. The Keys are on point and the way they play generates the impact a ballad needs to create. The strings in the background are nothing short of perfection as they pull the strings attached to our hearts moving us and letting the sadness transmit from her voice and lyrics to our ears and hearts. Her way of singing reminds me of indie singer-songwriter Aditi Ramesh who is a superstar vocalist herself.

5. Baadal

Composer, singer, producer– The RedMoone

Language – Hindi

Genre – Pop, Melody

Lyricist – Rupali Moghe

Musicians – Rithu Vysakh, Rahul Narayan, Vivek Thomas

Alan Joy Mathew who goes by the name The RedMoone has been featured many times for his indie projects as well as being a part of some phenomenal productions in the Mollywood album space, especially for the composer Jakes Bejoy. The guitars and Alan’s vocals are all that you hear and these come in various layers, but wait till you get bowled over by the one-man string quartet played by the one and only Rithu Vysakh. The vocal harmonies are executed and arranged to create a wavy feeling where the waves keep hitting the shores one after the other without ever catching a break. Vivek Thomas does the mixing and mastering and Rahul Narayan is the recording engineer.

6. One Love 

Composer & Singer: Hemachandra Vedala (He/Him)

Executive Producer: Teerdha Palagummi (She/Her)

Lyrics: Kittu Vissapragada (He/Him)

Genre – Indie pop

Language – Telugu

Musicians – Joel Sastry, Aditya Gajula

Hemachandra Vedala is one of those composers who doesn’t just sit idle waiting for movie projects, as he keeps himself busy with indie singles every now and then. The last time when I featured him was for the mesmerizing number called “Rabba”. The song has some excellent guitars played by Joel Sastry who also plays the bass, and he strums in exquisite fashion. The lines “chusa chusa” along with harmonies are such a delight to hear, and rap lines are done by Pranav Chaganty. Vedala composed and sang the song with lyrics by Kittu Vissapragada. The more you hear, you will feel that Joel is like the protagonist and even the sound design is such that the guitars are not playing the supporting role but are very much the lead. The song is refreshing and creates an effusion of love, romance and all associated feelings. The outro with the swaras probably is influenced by Raag Maand. Aditya Gajula has mixed and mastered the track. Finally, we have a good song about love irrespective of your gender and sexual orientation. 

7. Jaza

 Composition, lyrics, vocals & instruments: Nishant Mittal

Language – Hindi

Genre – Pop, Melody

Tracking, mixing, mastering & production: Abhishek Pawar

This guy, Nishant Mittal is a Master of many trades, not just a Jack. He has been a successful entrepreneur and owned many start-ups, but what impresses me the most is his talent as a composer. A few months ago I did feature him for a song called “Sahi” and just like the name, everything was just right about the number. It ended up being one of the best Indian songs released in October 2021 and was picked from over 1500 songs released. If that song had some rock tendencies, this one is just pure melody and delight to the ears. If I ever could sing half as well, and play the guitars 10% as good as this, I still would pick this song to impress a woo-a-girl. The strumming of the guitars is what we hear from the beginning and it is like a feeling of wind on your cheeks, with the windows of your car rolled down. This brilliance on guitars is accompanied by the slightly coarse vocal delivery of Nishant. The bridge is a wonderful deviation and the flow of notes is into the higher scale following a nice gradient and a pitch-perfect delivery on vocals.

8. Hail The Courtesan 

Composed, Performed by Sounds Fishy

Musicians - Ashwin Sequeira, Floid Pereira, Clyde Lobo, Ramprasad Ashok, Maclean Dsouza, Renston Jake Fernandes

Genre – Rock

Language - English

The Mangaluru band released an EP called “Retribution” with 3 tracks but I loved this one the most. This band which formed in 2016 has been busy making some good music and releasing singles but this was my first experience listening to their work. Apparently, the songs in the EP discuss the seven deadly signs and one is specifically about greed. The song is pure rock delight with outstanding vocals, drums and electric guitar portions. Clyde Lobo is fantastic as the lead guitarist and Floid Pereira plays the bass. Ramprasad Ashok also plays the guitars but it is the pulsating drums by Ashwin Sequeira who dominates the scene. The electric guitar solo after the 3rd minute is divine and it doesn’t stop there, if you pay attention, it keeps playing all through in the background. Renston Jake Fernandes is the lead vocalist and he writes the lyrics. Maclean Dsouza plays the Piano, and he also is the producer along with mixing and mastering duties. 

9. Pahadon mein 

Composer, singer, and lyricist – Kushal Choksi

Language – Hindi

Genre – Indie pop, classical fusion

Keeping it simple is his mantra as Kushal Choksi just composes a very hummable tune and in production, he doesn’t complicate things. The guitars and vocals are good enough to deliver the message. The point when he gives a classical touch singing the swaras, is just where you feel some levitation and the singing is light as cake, pretty damn tasty too. Some of the vibratos showcase his strong vocals and potential, and training. To me, there was an influence of Raag Hamsadhwani there. Listen and enjoy this succulent song. 

10. My Pride - Aarya 

Writer, singer – Aarya

Producer - Aman Vanjani (Backclash), Pranay Gode (SHMAR) and Shayan Chakraborty

A singer-songwriter from Mumbai writes and performs this really touching song, and I can't really put a finger and say whether it was Aarya’s singing or words that affected me more. The song talks about the love shared between a father and son and everything he says sounds relevant and takes us back t our lives and moments spent with our fathers and sons. The song vividly reminded me of BOYZONE’s ‘Father and son’ which had some amazing words as well, and it resembles how here too Aarya talks about maybe teaching his son about falling in love and so on. The track is produced by Aman Vanjani (Backclash), Pranay Gode (SHMAR) and Shayan Chakraborty. In terms of the song’s structure, scale and notes there is a resemblance to “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” by the band ‘Chicago’ released back in 1982. The track is mixed and mastered by Ankit Dhandare and the artwork is done by Prithvi Shetty. The outro portion has some EDM influences to give a nice twist to a lullaby. 

11. Easier to be alone - Karan

Composers: Karan Kanchan, Rahul Rajkhowa

Singer, lyrics – Rahul Rajkhowa

Genre – electronic Pop

Language - English

This singer Rahul Rajkhowa first was known to me when he sang a couple of songs in a Hindi movie album composed by Sudeep Swaroop. I particularly loved the song “Kahin Mat Jaana” from the movie ‘Side A Side B’, check out the song and my reviews of the same. This one here is composed by Karan Kanchan and Rahul with Rahul performing it brilliantly along with writing these very relevant lines. It is always easier to be alone, isn’t it? But whether the easier life is the happier life? Debate a worthy topic but not for now I guess. The singing is a top draw and he is bringing newer facets of his game every time he performs. The keys, drums and guitars all gel well but so mildly playing behind the vulnerable falsetto mode that Rahul attempts beautifully. Then the bass guitars start engaging but the woodwind sounds are kind of chirpy as though conveying that being alone is not something to be sad about. The track is mixed and mastered by Hanish Taneja, with Noiz X working on the visualizer.

12. Dear Madeline

 Composer, Singer, lyrics – Sai VSR

Producer – Sidharth Bendi

Musicians – Sudan, Kenneth Harrison

Genre – Pop, Alt Rock

Language - English

Is there something to do with this song title? ‘Dear Madeline’ was a brilliant song, topping the all India charts back in April 2020 on my lists composed, performed and written by the uber-talented Dhruv Visvanath. Now we have Sai VSR, a young singer-songwriter from Hyderabad using the same title and this one is smashing as well. The song had some fantastic production which is obviously expected of Sidharth Bendi, as he produces, mixes, masters and even does the artwork for this one. It begins with all the focus on Sai’s dreamy vocals and a little bit of guitar by Sudan, but where it moves into a zone that reminds me of the transformation we see in Coldplay’s “Fix you”. The drums gather steam thanks to Kenneth Harrison and Sai’s singing takes flight into the higher scales, and maybe even his singing style is inspired by Chris Martin. The Keyboards and harmonies are also nice additional layers to the track.

13. My Way

Vocals: Arindam Gohain

Composition, lyrics, Producer: Shyamal Jyoti

Language – English

Genre – Electronic Pop

Arindam Gohain is known in the Assamese music circle and creates many singles in that space, but this one is an English single and I was very fond of the song. The singing is what immediately catches your attention, and the interplay of the Piano and the EDM influences is quite engaging. The synths and rhythm programming sometimes remind you of the 1980s and 1990s pop and there was probably a no better time for global music like that. Shyamal Jyoti has composed, written, produced and even mixed and mastered the track and that is some stellar contribution and performance. The words mean so much as Arindam talks about finding his way, just like we all end up doing at some point in our lives.

14. Phul

Singer, lyrics, guitar  – Sourjyo Sinha

Composer, producer – Rohit Ganesh, Sourjyo Sinha

Language – Assamese, Sylheti

Genre – Folk fusion

Musicians – Rivu, Sagnik Samaddar

This song is something I would never have expected to hear from any source because I had never heard of this musician. It only took me by positive surprise, because the song was an immersive experience. There are multiple sounds of the Mandolin, acoustic and bass guitars, but the programming is excellent as all the sounds come together after the 2.45-minute mark. Deviprasad Sinha has penned the lyrics and they are in Assamese and Sylheti (spoken in parts of Bangladesh). The mandolin is played by Sagnik Samaddar, and the bass guitars are by Rivu. The song is mixed and mastered by Rohit Ganesh. The track has beautiful elements and every small sound collectively brings a smile and your day will be made when you hear this, even if you don’t follow a word of what is being said. Just know that the song is about flowers, and so it can only be as beautiful as what you hear musically.

15. Ishq

Singer, Composer: Paresh Pahuja

Lyrics by Vayu

Music Production: Vaibhav Pani

Language- Hindi

Genre- electronic pop, ballad

Bring on the big guns now, and we have 3 amazing musicians in Vayu, Vaibhav Pani and Paresh Pahuja combining to give us a blinder. Paresh is an actor whom we all would recognize at the first instance itself, but he also is a wonderful singer. I have featured at least two of his songs one composed by Vayu called ‘Mascara’ and the other produced by Meghdeep Bose called ‘Dooron Dooron’. Do check out both to get a hint of Paresh’s talent. This one is produced by guitarist/produced Vaibhav and with Vayu’s lyrics we have Paresh singing his own tune, his vocals are extremely enticing and he shows a sense of pain in his voice by those elongated stresses on words. The string arrangements in the background work quite well and Vaibhav employs them to perfection. The bass guitars lead the way in adding the style element and all the harmonies fill the interlude. Paresh must be appreciated for going the extra mile and scoring a full-fledged song with a well-defined stanza as well. The song in terms of its tone and style does remind me of “Mummy” which too was produced by Vaibhav and sung by Vayu.