Top Indian Songs of the week - 12th December 2021

This is the list of Top Songs released in India for the week ending Dec 12, 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 12th December 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 Top Songs this week on SPOTIFY

1. Magician

Alvin Presley was impressive a year or so ago with his EP and I loved the whole collection which had a track in Tamil as well. It was something fresh and his vocals stood out for me. Now I discover the band he formed back in 2016 and is their current lead vocalist is kicking ass. Attva was formed by musicians from around India but who gathered in good-old Chennai. Biadurya Banerjee is their lead guitarist, Shourish Biswas from New Delhi is the bassist, and the drummer in charge is Vinay Ramakrishnan. This track is a fast-paced rock single that straight away rises to the top of the charts this week. The bits where the electric guitar plays, I am reminded of the lines� Ek suraj nikla tha� from the track “Dil se�. Is it weird that during certain moments, I hear some notes of Raag Jog or Naatai in Carnatic. The drumming and electric guitar are simply sizzling with some able support on the bass guitars. The harmonies are wonderfully arranged, and keep on the lookout for the electric guitar solo that extends for like a minute or so – truly inspirational work and kudos to Baidurya. The song speaks about a magician and I love the lyrics as well. The track is mixed and mastered by Toby Joseph and Nithin D’Mello is the recording engineer. Nayyha Sharma is the woman behind the artwork.

2. Hijabi

The man who created the score for JOJI. That is how he will be known for his stupendous accomplishment in 2021, and in my opinion it is one of 2 Indian movies with the most outstanding OST’s of the year. If that is not enough for you listen to some of the awesome songs from “Thaaner Mathan Dhinangal�, especially ‘Jathikathottam’. This is another smashing melody from Justin Varghese, and he has composed and programmed and arranged in this track, and it keeps ringing in your ears on loop sung so beautifully by Adheef Muhamed, and you can’t help but fall in love with this voice. A lullaby from a male voice has never felt this good. Suhail Koya is the lyricist. Subhani is terrific as expected on the string instruments in the secondary layers along with josy John’s splendid bass lines. Justin, SanDy and Amal Anthony join in back-up vocals and the interlude is one more elegant rendition on the strings. If you don’t pay close attention Nikhil’s intervention on the wind instruments could just whiff past you without you noticing. The verse is an extension of the melody with so many things happening in the background, thanks to Subhani’s skills and Justin’s arrangements. Varun Sunil of “Masala Coffee� plays the percussions here and Vipin Lal handles all the additional programming. The track is mixed and mastered by Justin, with additional mix by Nandhu Kartha, Avinash Satish and Justin are the recording engineers.

3. Premakke Kannilla

He has had a terrify journey up until now, and I have always enjoyed his compositions in a very tight race among composers in Sandalwood music industry.  The use of the ghatam is a sure shot success, and in a slow song like this we have heard how AR Rahman used it brilliantly in “Innum Konjam Neramâ€?. Judah composes and arranges for this track sung brilliantly by Pancham Jeeva who sort of has this similarity in his vocal texture to that of Sanjith Hegde. Sarf Khan’s Sarod and the Bangalore Strings Ensemble are just excellent additions that keep enriching the track at every instant. Butto’s flute solo takes control of the interlude, and the verse is a simple but still the melody is maintained. The bass guitars provide some excellent backbone to the track and Shreya Iyer only joins much later in the track, but a nice little cameo it is. The lyrics are penned by Jayanth Kaikini, with mixing and mastering also by Judah. There is another track also which I love in this album called “Shuruvaagideâ€? sung by Sid Sriram who is slowly appearing more in Kannada now. This is too has some excellent live instruments with the flute again by Butto, Violin by Simon Augustine Sandhy, Nadaswaram by Nehru, and Veena by Mahesh Prasad. The Bangalore Strings Ensemble comprises of Simon Augustine Sandhy, Reuben James, Sarith Sukumaran, Sibi Manuel, Stephen Joseph, Aruna Duvvuri, Sam John Job. The Tabla is a constant presence played by Venkat and Dhanu, with Dholak by Dhanu and Shiva. Arjun Luis has penned the lyrics and Nigel Xandrina has mastered the track, with George Thomas on all the additional programming.

4. Wes Anderson

Aditi Saigal a.k.a. DOT. Is rising every time she produces or composes or sings and after her super-impressive EP “Khamotionâ€? released in 2021, her ability to consistently deliver good music continues unabated. The Piano takes center stage right from the start, as James Gair arranged, co-produces, records, mixes and masters the track. The splendid keys are played by Aditi herself who soars higher and higher with her vocals, and you can see the adrenaline levels pumping as the keys and vocals get louder and higher in scale. The strings section comprising of Alice Teulon on 1st Violin, Miriam Dinis on 2nd Violin, Zach Reading on Viola, Anastasia Zaponidou on Cello, in the background is beautiful and rich and the arrangements are spot on. This is just one joy ride with its ups and downs and you can understand the genius in the youngster as she just conquers you with great composition and song-writing. The film was shot by Rory Alexander with Camera work by Matt Melling.

5. Kasiyoli

This juggernaut called Bhoomi with musical production by Salim-Sulaiman is a brand of music that doesn’t cannot be stopped in its path. I have already featured 2 so far in this website in 2 different weeks, and one Tamil number on Behindwoods. This is composed by one of the brightest talents in India, Anurag Saikia. The title means ‘ray of light’ and he is the ray of light that Indian music industry should be proud of. The vocals are solid thanks to its lead performers Vivek Hariharan and Jutimala Buragohain. After the first couple of lines, there is a pause and the guitars electrify the stage and you just wait for what is about to come. Ishan Das has played the electric guitars and co-produced the track with Anurag. Nawaz Hussain is charged up and that is evident in the drums he plays along with percussions by Satyajit Rajaram Jamsandekar. The track is mixed and mastered by Pankaj Borah with drums alone mixed by Akash Sawant. The duel between the drums and electric guitar gets insanely good and this track feels like a wonderful Assamese folk song that has been given a fabulous refurbishment. The bassist is Rahul Putai, and Manoj Kumar Das plays the Khol. Rahul Gautam Sharma writes the lyrics and the backing vocals team comprises of Gauranga Shekhar, Bishal Sharma, Kavya Daga and Kriti Daga.

6. Kitabon

The Western Ghats, are a band you better take notice of, and follow. The stamp of music coming from them is of the highest nature and I believe their music should be celebrated. Ritik Suntwal on drums gets the tempo and track going along with guitars by Kaleb Shaji, and Gordon Pereira. Aryaendra Shekhar has got some stunning vocals that he employs and the humming portion a minute or so into the track is delightful. Aryaendra also has composed and written the track. You can sense that the Keyboards are also heavily used here and Sunil George plays them along with other vital duties lie composition and arrangements. It might be much easier to just compose a very regular rock track, but this band pays extra focus on the tune that is being composed, and you can strip off all the accompanying instruments and you will still have an inherent melody worth singing and humming, Rex David is the bassist and the track is mixed and mastered by Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar. The outro on guitars, drums and keys is just way too enjoyable.

7. Anandham

Yazin Nizar who used to sing regularly in Malayalam and Tamil, has of late started singing quite regularly in Telugu. He has got a vocal range not many can match upto and he displays that right at the beginning of the track. He is accompanied by Vishnupriya who does combine well in the romantic song that has a wonderful charanam portion that is both elaborate and elegant. The guitars start off the second interlude portion which then is taken over by a wonderful solo on the violin and when you hear all this you get the impression this is a beautiful rendition with influences of Abheri Raaga. The track is composed by Shekar Chandra and with lyrics written by Bhaskarabhatla. The flute keeps playing on and off especially in the first interlude, and I love how Visnupriya sings at the end of the charanam with a subtle vibrato that lands on the pallavi. The track has some excellent arrangements on the bass guitar, and Piano as well. Krishnaraj Arumugum has mixed and mastered the track.

8. Cut to the chase

That’s two in two for Kashmira Khot, after a super single released back in July called “Break Through�. This one is an equally smashing single written, and performed by her and her close aide Mayank Katare has produced and played the acoustic guitars and bass. The fabulous drums are played by Saurabh Lodha and he has also mastered the track. Her vocals are beyond par, and the singing as well as the guitars give me a texture of country music popular in the US. The arrangements are splendid and I love how in between the guitars and instruments take a pause with only Kashmira’s vocals and Saurabh’s drums performing. The guitar notes that keep playing every-time Kashmira finishes singing “Cut to the chase� are memorable and stick to your mind. You will wake up in the end when she sings “wake up darling� and Saurabhs ups the tempo on his drums.

9. Little plastic raincoat

Second sight is a duo that settles in a very niche segment focusing on Jazz, R&B primarily. The recent album which is apparently their debut creation has some terrific number, a couple have been already featured by me. Here I want to mention about two particularly 1. Little Plastic Raincoat which is a bonus feature and 2. Helpless. Anusha Ramasubramoney and Pushkar Srivatsal are the duo and I recommend that listeners hear the whole album and get a taste of their classy music. The tracks are written and composed by the duo and in the first track here they both lend their vocals, that just is soothing.  Pushkar himself plays the guitars, and watch out for the Cello played by Akoto Goto, that instils the pathos and gravity of the scenario right into your heart. The way the duo sing in unison and in different octaves. Ralph Menezes is the bassist with Puskar also handling all additional synths. The next track featured Ranjani Ramadoss a.k.a. RANJ and here Second Sight enters their seasoned territory of R&B. The singing is impeccable as Pushkar and Anushka improvise and use vibrato so effectively and spontaneously, something that never quite comes off well in other genres. RANJ begins to rap as we touch the halfway mark and Ralph’s bass and Pushkar’s guitars provide the backbone for the foot-tapping rap she delivers. Jaykrishnan Unnithan plays the Keys, and Jigar Shah is on the drums. All vocal arrangements are by Anushka, with Pushkar producing and mixing the tracks. The mastering is by Thomas Juth, and the recording engineers are Keyur Bhagat, Sameer Shah, and Hersh Desai.

10. Hot Cauldron Ragtime

It is an interesting Album by evermoon and it is certainly worth your time with at least a couple of tracks sounding brilliant. Abracadabra as this one-man act calls it, gave me one amazing track to cherish and it is this. It feels like a retro swing number but classified as an electro- swing style. Adithi Sagar smashes this one with her flamboyant vocals and it is aided by some high value production and programming by evermoon. The trumpets and Keys play in the background turning this into one hot wild dance number and maybe that is why the title. Tejas Ramakrishna a.k.a. evermoon from Bengaluru experiments and he does that how well with varied musical styles and textures in the album and he also sings here along with Adithi. The bass and electric guitar sounds also electrify the whole environment and kudos to Tejas for his production, composition and arrangements.

11. Karon Aamra Aakashe

Rupam Islam is like a legend in Bangla indie music and would you believe that this particular had been written a decade ago and happy that it is finally being released again. Rupam has combined forces with Allan Ao and Neel Adhikari to compose this breezy rock number. Prasenjit Pom Chakrabutty’s bass guitars and Neel’s acoustic guitars stand tall along with some very peppy backing vocals featuring Neel, Allan and Ujjaini Mukherjee. Rupam is almost performing like it is just a walk in the park, and his cool attitude and style transmits over the track in a wonderful way. The drums programming is done by Allan, and that too is quite effective considering it is very essential to carry the tempo of the track forward. Rupam has written the lyrics as well. The outro is Rock-N-Roll like the old times as Allan does some sorcery on guitar strings.

12. Notun Alor Piyashay

Bangla music has always been running ahead of others, in the country especially in the rock genre. But the diverse styles that composers explore is worth appreciating. Take this track for example, as Joy Goswami writes, sings and composes this fabulous retro-sounding number that cheers you up with positivity with every note sung and played. I get a feeling there is a similarity to Kedar Raag or may be in the Chayanat or Gaur Sarang framework. Dipesh Chakraborty excels at arranging and mixing and mastering for the track, but the vocals stand out for me. The way he suddenly shifts from lyrics to swaras is interesting and lovely to listen to. The choice of percussion and the guitar strokes add to that retro feeling as well. All the guitar design is by Sugata Roy Palodhi and Debojit Sengupta is the sound engineer. The use of the electric guitar adds a fresh element to an otherwise very traditionally melodious number.

13. Inaaya

A song talks about love and tenderness especially how a child sees the world, full of life, innocence is what this song discusses this aspect. The moment the song starts I am reminded of that beautiful old number called “Tere Mere Milan ki� from the movie ‘Abhimaan’. Saurabh Trivedi and Suyash have written, produced and composed the track. Shikhar Agrawal’s flute solo starts off things, and with the vocals and Keys in unison the track is tranquility exemplified. Sagar Saluja plays the guitars, amd Ronit Sejwani is on the drums. The humming in the end is like a bridge that takes the track into a more rock-styled song and all the arrangements and basic likability of the tune keep you hooked on. Arpita Singh takes care of the album art.

14. Mukh Feraye Na Mon

Wow what a week for Bangla music, the 3^rd track emerges in the top 15 and this has to go to the vocalist for that sweet voice which does lifts my spirits up. Sahana Bajpaie is the singer and she sings this one composed by Amit-Ishan who have done some wonderful arrangements of the Piano and guitars right through the track. Subbhamoyy plays the guitars and strokes with such amazing control and the feeling love and romance blossoms with every stroke. The interludes are relatively simple, and the composition depends heavily on the tune, as the basslines also sound spot on in the verses. Barish is the lyricist, and mixing and mastering is done by Amit Chatterjee.

15. Across the Universe

It is going to be featured in my list of Best EP/Albums of 2021, with already 3 tracks being featured in the album inspired by ‘The Beatles and India’. Tejas Menon and Mali (Maalavika Manoj) are two splendid indie artists and many a times I have written about their singles and Eps here on my website, and when the two combine it was always going to be dynamite. Tejas debuts as a producer here and if you thought their vocals are spell-binding just wait and pay attention to Shravan Sridhar’s majestic solo on the violin. The combination of the Violin and guitars is splendid and it immediately feels like a beautified version of the original itself. As Mali begins here vocals, Tejas too joins in, and I can understand how important this is for the musicians, who get to perform on a classic of the legendary Beatles, but it is also a great opportunity for listeners of this generation to hear such classics. The arrangement of harmonies and the instruments are perfect to let the 4-minute track never lose a second of inspiration.

16. Hold on Tight

‘Change’ was the last time I featured Gouri and Aksha in my rankings and they have once again impressed me enough to appear in this list. The vocals are beautifully layered when they sing in unison and the Keys add a necessary layer that ‘Jazz’ifies the track in my opinion. The way the vocals are arranged with one following the other is something that always catches the attention and it works here too. The track is produced and mixed by Rohan Ramanna while it is mastered by Shawn Hatfield. The stylish trumpets are played by Aldrin Dominic Alexander and it is a ‘wow’ moment for sure. It is thins kind of innovative arrangement and thought that makes me believe the duo have much more to offer and impress in the world of music. Hersh Desai as the recording engineer, Snehi Shah handles the art direction and Meghna Bhalla takes the photography credits. I cannot think of a better song in recent months, to play in the twilight and have a lovely dinner and dance with your better half.