Top Indian Songs of the week - 30th Jan 2022

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 350 tracks released in the week ending 30th January 2022, I have rated and reviewed the 15 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.

1. Rangrezwa

I heard this the first time, and maybe halfway through I messaged Meghdeep Bose saying that it was mind-blowing and I knew that I was just hearing the best song released for the week. That is the level of confidence you get when you hear music from Meghdeep who is the real deal. It is a pity that industries like Bollywood, which is running a huge talent deficit in music especially, cannot work with such amazing composers regularly. This is ne magical number and though there have been many tracks mimicking retro disco sounds, this one stands apart because the feel and tune sounds fresh. It is also not just some unilateral score with everything sounding jarring and unpleasant. The team of musicians is solid and you know that there are multiple layers of instruments all playing at the same time and this is the kind of work that inspires music journalists, musicians, and even listeners. Sonu Nigam is one of the most gifted vocalists of our generation and it is just a bigger gift to hear him sing for Meghdeep. Only Manoj Yadav could have inserted such wonderful meaningful lyrics in such a foot-tapping tune. Before I even get to pick all the great touches on the live instruments, I must say that the ones that stand out from start to finish are Bombay Strings’ and their group violins and when they play it is just 7^th heaven. The violinists are Abhijit Mazumdar, Prakash Varma, Chander Makwana, Shyam Jawda Jitendra Javda, Dilshad Ahmed, Raju Padhiyar and Godwin Joseph. The percussions are solid and hugely charged up thanks to Allwyn Jeya Paul but it is the brainchild of Meghdeep who has produced, programmed, arranged, composed, played the syntheizers and vocorder as well. That deep voice of Sonu goes well, even when everything goes silent and you still hear the bass guitars by Ralph Menezes. Let us not forget Andrew McGuiness thumping the drums and driving the tempo of the track through all this. There is a moment when all the synthesizers stop, and all you hear are the bass guitars and a melody on strings to steal your heart away. Priyanshu Soni handles all the additional drum programming, and Japjisingh Valecha transcribe the strings scores. Listen to the last segment on Strings, which is just pure delight and Aditya Shankar accompanies on electric guitars. The strings are recorded by Manasi Tare, and Hanizh Taneja handles the mixing and mastering of the track.

2. Tonight

I first came across Pratika Gopinath when I heard about her singing for an American producer/musician Starita, and ever since she has had no looking back. She is part of an Indian music group called Easy Wanderlings whose music has been reviewed and featured by me right here on this website. She starts singing here and you are transported to a land where Jazz, Blues and R&B rule the roost. She possesses a voice that will send many so called singers to the cleaners, and make geniuses proud. This song is part of an EP called ‘Nightwing’ and although more than a few were lovely I found this track particularly inspiring. The track is conceptualized and composed by Jayant S who has also played the guitars, bass and synthesizers. Shreyas Iyengar plays the drums and he chooses to create the flow of the track with the heaviness and mildness as demanded like how he plays the hi-hat at times as well. The programming is excellent as you hear so many layers to the track and pay attention the solo on guitars by Jayant just at the halfway mark, and then we have further brilliance on the saxophone. Varun Venkit rocks your listening experience in the other track called “Circle� as the percussionist. ‘Circle’ brings about a more peppy experience thanks to Latin Jazz style. There are 4 more tracks, and I might just include one more in the coming weeks.

3. I love you

It is Go Goa Gone, as the small but developed state has produced two magical songs through some of its home-grown talents in two consecutive weeks. It was Kristian Bent with “Its all good�, and this one by Alexis D’souza is no less. This track is a part of a 7 tracl album called “You’re Nobody, You’re Perfect� and although they were released back in 2020, this track has been streaming only recently probably because of the release of a new video. This is purely a song that showcases the vocal capabilities and delivery of Alexis, which are impeccable. It has a Soul style to it along with some terrific harmonies and almost present through the entre track. Ayan De does the mixing and mastering but despite all the vocal splendor, you will be enticed by the bass guitars and mild drums as well. There is a lot of keyboard programming adding essential layers to the track. The outro with all the lovely strings aided by guitars just makes you want more and more.

4. Oru Mathra Nin

Father –daughter musical pairs like these don’t come at this level of performance so often but here is one to celebrate and cherish. After some magical songs composed for “Kolaambi�, Ramesh Narayan who is an exponent of Hindustani Classical music takes up another venture here and just like an amazing song in that film called “Aarodum Parayuka�, she delivers one here with stunning beauty. She received the Kerala State Award for playback singing for another song in the same movie. Louie Martin’s acoustic guitars make the opening marks with Josy John’s bass support. Madhushree sings like the most gentle breeze uttering every word of Vinayak Sasikumar with precision. The way Ramesh ji intertwines melody with instrumental creativity is unparalleled, especially the fact that someone who is always closer to Classical music can even produce such wonderful modern sounds. R Narayan plays instruments that I am hearing for the first time like Strumstick, and Backpacker guitar along with the Ukulele. The song is simple in structure with a shorter than usual verse length but it oozes quality. The track is mixed and mastered by Kiran Lal with Nishanth BT as mix assistant and the recording engineers are Vybav Hemkumar, Bharath Arjunan and Romy. We have Sooraj Santhosh on backing vocals for the song

5. Gaaname

I have been meaning to write a full post on Hesham Abdul Wahab’s Hridayam which has 15 songs and that too like an old time cassette with Side A and Side B. It probably will be released soon but let us now focus on this wonderful melody once again showing the dominance of Malayalam music industry.  Let us enjoy this sung by two absolute masters of the vocal art in Sooraj Santhosh and Nithya Mammen. Nithya is singing with phenomenal frequency, I mean why wouldn’t she when she can perform with breathtaking quality like this. Josy’s flute is so inviting right at te start and nothing can match the serenading vocals of Sooraj. It does have the influence of Raag Desh, and the interlude is all a mix of Flute and guitars in this song composed, arranged and mixed by Hesham. The song had some outstanding sound quality thanks to Vishnu Raj who masters it and engineers like Amal Mithu and Vipin Lal who has worked on audio technical assistance. As the verse opens up in Nithya’s vocals we are once again exposed to her wide range and listen to the shift in tempo and change in rhythms as Anandan PK plays the Dolak, he also plays the tabla in the track. The second interlude is loaded with strings thanks to the team from Cochin Strings comprising of Francis Xavier, Josekutty, Herald Anthony and Francis Sebastian. Hesham wonderfully constructs a second verse which is different from the first showing his potential as a composer. The ending portions have these strings accompanying in the background layer as the vocalists sing. Vinayak Sasikumar once again is the lyricist and KD Vincent works as a music co-ordinator with Suroor Musthafa as the music assistant.

6. Naina

Chhavi Sodhani is an indie musician who performs alone and also with her sister Pragya in their band called “Parindeyâ€?. She has been releasing singles and this one is her best work yet. The track is composed, produced, written and sung by Chhavi, focusing on the life of  a girl who has fallen madly in love, and other than the vocals I love the tempo of the song as well. The bass guitars are wonderful providing a separate layer of coolness to the track. If you play close attention we can also hear the Sarangi in the background and this probably adds a folkish flavor to the tune. We have experts like Keshav Dhar on mixing and Naweed on mastering. I listen to this song and I felt like it was the production and composition of Salim-Sulaiman, and that is one massive compliment to Chhavi. The composition is worth an applause as she brings in more traditional aspects with the introduction of Sitar sounds in the interlude. There are some EDM elements, with harmonies and rhythm arrangements also sounding nice. Aditya N plays a support role as the male backing vocalist.

7. Ik Mili Mainu Apsara

I have mentioned many times that I am a huge fan of BPraak, and it is not just his singing, which is obviously loved by millions of fans and even give credible acknowledgement through his National Award for playback singing. I however think his capabilities as a composer haven’t yet gotten the deserving credits. In my opinion he is one of the best in the land and he once again delivers a very different tune here which just raises the roof and sets the dance floor on fire. He combines with Jaani once again on lyrics and gets Gurinder Guri and Akaash Bambar to mix and master. Gaurav Dev and Kartik Dev make a huge contribution with their arrangements. It is an out-and-out dance number with terrific rhythms and harmonies accompanying throughout the song. BPraak’s singing is unquestionably flawless and he ropes in Asses Kaur to sing the female lead lines right at the very end. The scale change at the end reminds of AR Rahman’s songs, and also pay attention to the Keys and Bass guitars which come and go.

8. Don’t leg go

The musician from Kerala calls himself Doctor Lincoln, and I feel anyone who can create some interesting piece of music is a healer too. This one is a track from his 2^nd album called “Will see you nowâ€? and is dedicated to his friend and co-producer Santhosh Pulluvazhi who recently met his demise. The track is also produced by Lincoln, and Akshay Manoj. The guitars and vocals belong to Lincoln and he is driving this forward with a rock styled groove. The mix of the electric guitars, bass guitars and drums synchronizes well with his vocals and I love that he doesn’t sing with an unnatural tongue and accent. Steev Benjamin has directed the video along with donning the role of DoP. Palee Francis of WCMT plays the rums and does all the additional programming, and it is Steven C Mathison on Keyboards and bass guitar. When the drums and guitars fade away and Lincoln sings “Don’t Leave me here aloneâ€?, I could sense an influence of Raag Hamsadhwani and the composer later agrees with me as loves this particular Raag. It was listening to the uber famous “Colonial Cousinsâ€? back in the days. Kudos to Lincoln for composing something with sensibilities and tones of the east and west. We have the renowned musician Rex Vijayan on mixing and Ben Feggans on mastering. The actress in the video is Deepika Singh.

9. Padhaa

 Yazin Nizar is giving other established singers in Tollywood a run for their money as he has started recording with considerable frequency in the Telugu movie space. Sweekar AGasthi impressed last year with a very fine album called “Middle class melodiesâ€?, and he is continuing on that journey now. The moment I hear the song I once get a sense of Hamsadhwani or am I  also just so fascinated by this Raag? Apparently Yazin concurs that there are some influences if only mild. The interlude is very interesting with some techno- sounds and a nice harmony by kids, and I think credit goes not only to Sweekar who has composed, arranged and produced it, but also his team Balu S, and Nithin Jones who have done the additional programming and arrangements. The track is mixed and mastered by some foreign talent Martin Kano in Argentina and Mehraj is the sound engineer with Rehman penning the lyrics.

10. Chusanae Chusanae

S Thaman enters my list after a couple of months of hiatus and the last we heard was from Bheemla Nayak I suppose. This too has stamp of his music and the singer’s pitch, the bass and synths and even the tone of the song reminds me of “Aruvam� album’a song called ‘Aagayam’. The guitars are emphatic and standout in the track thanks to two bigwigs who go by the names of Keba Jeremiah and Ankur Mukherjee, and they play all the three versions viz. acoustic, bass and electric guitars. Rita Thyagarajan is a well know vocalist in Kollywood and here she portrays her skills and wide vocal range, and one has to credit her because it is a tough one to sing especially with all the domination by the guitarists. The strings we hear are by Chennai Strings, conducted by Ravi Raghav, and the mixing and mastering is by Shadab Rayeen with Osho V working on additional programming. KK has penned the lyrics.

11. Kannod Kannod

Very rarely can we love and remember a song for an instrument, its arrangements and constant presence. Noushad plays the trumpet and it is one of the most addictive and enthralling instruments around and it just keeps you hooked on. This song is composed and performed by Sajeer Koppam wo has a tone that resembles Sid Sriram in many spots especially the stanza. The song probably has some influences of the Carnatic Raagam Kaapi even sending me into dejavu listening to Kadhal Rojave by AR Rahman from the movie “Roja�. Faisal Ponnan writes the lyrics while Sibu Sukumaran does the programming and mixing. I love the acoustic guitar following the trumpets in the interlude. The Trumpet follows right through and it is played and arranged stunningly.

12. Olosh Dopur

Rishi Panda keeps creating these songs both originals and covers and I also allocate time tom listen to them and this time I was quite sure that the song will be featured and reviewed as one India’s finest for the week. This song is written to address emotions of longing when we think of and remember a loved one. Niladri Banerjee has written and composed this subtle yet substantial melody, which has some layered strings in the background. Rishi’s singing is perfect to match the tone and texture of the notes which has some excellent arrangements by Debayan Banerjee. He has also mixed and mastered the track and I absolutely love the Sarod in the interlude and this has traces of Raag Desh if I am not wrong. There is a mild but intriguing backup vocal arrangement as, and to hear the Sarod, Ukulele, guitars and Keys is a like living in a dream that you never want to see the end of.

13. Pyaar Ya Sazaa

Suhavi Kalsi is a trained Hindustani Classical vocalist and a student of Music at Delhi Univ, and you can easily sense the way she introduces fragments of the style into this otherwise very Jazz sounding number. Kudos to her for being able to compose this track fusing two very opposing styles but in music, there are no opposing forces per se. Suhavi’s vocals are clear and studded with timely and sound aalaps as she sings the words written by Likhari. I love the Keys that dominate the proceedings along with her vocals and all harmonies. Mathew May directs the music, while the mixing and mastering responsibilities lie with Sommaiya Angrish. This is one delightful track to set the right romantic mood for your evening. Suhavi somehow manages to exhibit Jazz tendencies in her vocal delivery as well and that is a treat.

14. Yaakinge 2

‘All Ok’ is a musician and what a nice way to keep your title especially if your name is Alok. This Kannada indie musician Alok Babu R makes some pleasant music and the sequel to the original is what I loved much more. Here is Yaakinge 2 which is peppy, foot-tapping and somewhat in the Reggae and Calypso style that will just not let you sit down for a bit. The track is the complete brainchild of All Ok who has conceptualized, composed, produced, performed and even directed the video for it. Akash Joshi has edited and acted as the DoP for this with Agastya Raag on music production. Aniket Mohanty has mixed and mastered the track. Another unmissable highlight of the track is Raman Iyer’s saxophone, and let us not forget the harmonies and rhythm arrangements as well. All Ok truly creates one very hummable tune here.

15. Dooron Dooron

Meghdeep Bose opens and also ends the account this week with “Rangrezwaâ€? and “Dooron Dooronâ€? respectively. He produces this one with composition and vocals by singer/actor Paresh Pahuja. I was incredibly impressed when he sung for musician Vayurus in the song called “Mascaraâ€?, and it is so refreshing to see a talented actor (Little Things on Netflix and Tandav on Prime come to mind) also compose and sing so well. Shiv Tandan writes the lyrics, with Harish Taneja has stereo mixed and mastered the track. The Punjabi lyrics sound so beautiful especially with Paresh’s vocals adding glitter and the guitars in the background layers. The song has a beautiful verse and the humming is another element that is an extension of the songs melody. Dont forget to watch the beautiful video as well