Top Tamil Songs of Jan 2022

Here is the list and review of the top songs in Tamil for the month of January, and they were picked from around 60 new releases in the month. The AMAZON playlist here has the full list in the same order of rankings shown below.

https://music.amazon.in/user-playlists/700c6fb369ce485aa74d104de03b1fabi8n0?marketplaceId=A3K6Y4MI8GDYMT&musicTerritory=IN&ref=dm_sh_je2PCnPwp7ZuT3tTlYaPI3AKM

1. Naan Pizhai

I can say that this is probably Anirudh’s best composition in a while, and this beats the rest of songs released in the last 2 years by a fair distance. I only feel a resemblance to his early days when he could also compose melodies. Suddenly all that vanished with more dance numbers to please the larger section of listeners, while there is no harm in that, except that it does also not hurt to create such wonderful pieces like these. This song is already becoming a rage among Instagram reel makers, and it is without a doubt probably January’s best song. Anirudh has composed and arranged with lyrics penned by Vignesh Shivn, which are quite impactful. The movie ‘Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal’ already had a good number released last year. It is nice to see that other than the opening lines and a few more sung by Anirudh, he gets in Ravi G to probably sing the complex notes where the composer would probably have sounded less convincing. Shashaa Tirupati becomes a great choice for the female lead and she does deliver with a punch. The keys at the beginning are like the flowing breeze or the ocean waves that gently tough our feet and with the keyboard, synth programming by Anirudh, Arish and Pradeep PJ perform the additional keyboard programming. The song does evoke memory of tunes like “Malargale� by AR Rahman and maybe that is why there is a hint of Saranga, or maybe even a bit of Raag Hamirkalyani like we can relate to “En Uyir Thozhi� by MSV. All said and done this is a brilliant song with some great Orchestra scores by Balasubramanian G(the composer of the movie N4 and song “Thaniyae Kadhal�) and he has also co-ordinated working with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. The conductor is Zoltán Pad, Bálint Sapszon as contractor and co-orchestrator being Abhishek  Vishwanathan. The librarian is Agnes Sapszon and recording engineer is Viktor Szabó, with Rajesh Kannan as pro tools editor. Anirudh’s voice has a magnetic effect on you and it is on full display in this and the best line of the song is probably “azhaga siricha mugame�. Navin plays the flute in the interlude and I love the humming that follows. Keba Jeremiah can be heard playing the bass and electric guitars, and the grandeur of the orchestra comes to light due to some programming also by Ishaan Chhabra. The rhythm programming is by Anidudh additional engagement by Shashank Vijay. The track is engineered by Srinivasan M, Shivakiran S, and Pranjal, with mixing by Vinay Sridhar and Srinivasan and Stem mix and master by Sai Shravanam.

2.Mugamoodi
Kaber Vasuki does well in the small opportunities he is given, as he did prove himself in “Dharala Prabhu� and the whole album of “Aelay�. This song is all him as he writes, composes and sings a wonderful number, which probably has the feeling of almost a theme or BGM score. Kaber sings with a huge investment in emotions and you can feel that as he soars into high scales, and the drums by Manu Krishnan and electric guitars by Sahib Singh accompanying are a treat to any ear, which loves the rock genre. He offers much more as we see a drop in the tempo and get enthralled by the solo violin, with bass and electric guitars in the background. The song will evoke emotions of various kinds like pathos, rage and celebration and that truly is to be credited to the composer. The outro on the violin by Akshay Ganesh is simply terrific. The track is mixed by Dilip Venkateswaran and mastered by John Tornblom

3.Uyir Thirandhu

We just heard Balasubramanian G’s name working on the song “Naan Pizhai�. This time he is the composer and he shows he is qualified to be a composer creating this melodious piece. The song from “Infinity� is composed and arranged by him and it has the mesmerizing vocals of Pradeep Kumar with words written by Balamurugan. The guitars by Sam Solomon provide a fitting aid to Pradeep’s voice and they fill all the gaps when the vocalist takes a breath and pauses. Even during his previous composition called “ Thaniyae Kadhal� I did mention about the attempt to make music sound like Maestro Ilaiyaraja’s and here too Bala G does that. This is a massive compliment and I only hope the young musician sustains under the pressure of expectations. The song reminds me of “Poove Sempoove� at various instances, as the song has some great harmony as well arranged by Koshy Cherry.  The song beautifully drifts from the high-pitched and energetic title lines into the stanza. Abhishek B and Anu Koshy do the additional programming and mixing and mastering by Keerthivasan.

4.Arkali

He is like the solar eclipse, coming not very often (wonder why, when his music is astounding) but creating an absolute spectacle when he shows up. Dhibu Ninan Thomas just a couple of months ago created one of the best Tamil (or even Indian) sons of 2021 with “Adiye� and he is back again with songs from “Kombu Vatcha Singamda�. We have two fantastic vocal performances viz. D sathyaprakash who is well known and Ala B Ala who has always been around in the back up vocals of most songs. Dhibu composes, arranges and programs with solid acoustic guitars by Vijay Joseph and bass support by Naveen Napier. Ala sounds a bit like Chinmayi Sripada and we hope she gets more opportunities to be the lead vocalist. There is a massive line up of Harmony singers including Abinaya Shenbagaraj , Sowmya Mahadevan , Deepthi Suresh , Nincy Vincent , Shenbagaraj G , Santosh Hariharan , Sarath Santhosh and Aravind Srinivas. The rhythms are strong and catchy along with strings by the Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra in the interlude and verse. The orchestra was conducted by Oleg Kondratenko with scoring by Collins Rajendran. Sathyaprakash delivers an impressive vocal performance. The recording engineers are Vishnu M, Mani Ratnam , Lijesh Kumar and Giorgi Hristovski with mixing by Kiran Lal and Balu Thankachan, mastering by Manoj Kumar and Shadab Rayeen. There are some excellent live instruments too in the song like Kishore playing the Sitra, Vishnu Vijay playing the flute and (Late) Thirumoorthy on Nadaswaram. The percussions are played by Krishna Kishore, Ganapathi , Venkat , Sruthiraj  and Kiran

5. Yennadi Seithai

This looks like it is a bilingual film in Tamil and Telugu called “1945� and we have Yuvan Shankar Raja as the composer and Mohan Raja as the lyricist. Priya Mali just last month released a fantastic song on her own singing and composing “Patchai�. This time she delivers the female vocal lead wit great efficacy along with the stalwart Haricharan. The middle eastern influence is excellent thanks to the Oud/Rubab in the background and the interlude. The use of the tabla and Sarangi add to the classical and north Indian tradiational flavors. Haricharan singing in the higher scale and Priya in the bass scales in the stanza works quite well.

6. THOZHI

The song opens up and you can sense the Govind Vasantha touch al over it, and that is not a bad thing at all especially since we know how Govind can be terrific in his compositions ever since 96. This is once again a Pradeep Kumar vocal special where he sings with immaculate ease any note that is offered to him. The use of the bass guitars and the strings draws you in as much as Pradeeps voice itself. When the Violin, which is most definitely played by Govind himself, you feel like the theme of 96 is playing and you fall in love all over again. We have Madan Karky writing the lyrics and Amith Bal and Rajan KS mixing and mastering the track. The way the track ends I did sense an influence of Abheri raagam in it.

7. Amma Song

Just about month ago we had a song from “Valimai� talking about the irreplaceable relationship shared between a mother and son. That too was sung by Sid Sriram and as quite a lovely attempt by Yuvan Shankar Raja. This has the younger and new age composer Jakes Bejoy who is now becoming a pan-South Indian musician with regular releases in Malayalam and Tamil and now in Telugu. Incidentally it was Jakes Bejoy himself who made a song on the love of the Father called “Ilam Poove� from Anveshanam. The Malayalam song has no parallels and Sooraj Santhosh sang it brilliantly. Uma Devi needs to be give due credit for writing these touching words in this lovely dedication composed and produced by Jakes. Embar Kannan is at his splendid best on the solo violin with Nikhil Ram’s flute intervening. Sid Sriram excels at shifting between the lower and higher scales in no time. The female humming by Deepika Varadharajan and the Veena solo by Haritha Raj add great layers the interlude and somewhere when it ends I Was taken back to AR Rahman’s “Kannuku Mai Azhagu�. Godfrey Immanuel is solid as ever on the acoustic and bass guitars and they combine well with the flute and violin in union. Deepika’s cameo on the swaras sticks to your mind and I am thinking that there is probably some Ragam Maand in this song, and there is also an influence of Bihag in the track. The chorus arrangements are by Amal Anthony and he along with Jakes form the backup vocals. The strings we hear are fantastic thanks to Cochin Strings and we have Balu Thankachan on the mixing and mastering duties and Hari assisting him. The recording engineers are Daniel Joseph Antony, K.K.Senthil Prasath and Midhun Manoj

8. Veezhaedhae

The movie is out and it has generated a lot of positive reviews, and how refreshing is it to see a composer become a director. Kudos to Darbuka Siva for ccomposing, arranging and programming some lovey music and this is the last track in this movie sung by Abhay Jodhpurkar and Keerthi writing the lyrics. One thank we should all straightaway appreciate Darbuka about is that if the movie is about the 1990s then the music should be representative of that without any of the modern tones and flavors we are exposed to. Every song is melodious and creates nostalgia just like this one here with the predominant influence of acoustic guitars by Keba Jeremiah who also plays the electric guitar in this one. Shyam Benjamin is on the keyboards and he provides perfect acocmpaniment to the guitar strokes creating a secondary layer. The song is simple without too many complexities and the Keys play a vital role in the second half of the song. Somehow the impact of the keyboards reminds me of the heydays of 90s English soft pop and maybe that too was totally intended by the composer.  Sanjana Kalmanje joins on the humming  in the end in this track mixed and mastered by Balu Thankachan with assistance from Elwin Joseph and Hariharan. The recording engineers are Dheeleben, Hafeez and Avinash Sathish. The way Keba plays it , I feel like I am listening to some Slide guitar from an American country song.

9. Pogathey

It is difficult when musicians work hard to create a song and it really has a tough and delayed route to release. This excellent number was released on Spotify just recently and I loved it enough to inlcude in January’s best songs, but when I spoke to the composer I realized that it was composed and ready almost 5 years ago but is making its way into streaming apps only now. Like they say , it is better late than never , and you have some well known musicians working on this project. Singer Yogi Sekar has written the lyrics with guitarist/composer Simeon Telfer scoring the tune. Diwakar who was the winner of Super Singer 4 is the vocalist for this one and he really has brought his A game here. Simeon’s acoustic guitars and Napier Peter Naveenkumar’s bass guitars truly are perfect ingredients to make this final output sound brilliant. Diwakar delivers a fine performance in a song which doesn’t sound easy to execute in my opinion and when you hear the song it has a lot of tone and texture similarities to “Ennodu Nee Irunthal� by AR Rahman and sung by Sid Sriram. The track is mixed and mastered by Dr. Alfred.

10. Kaanal Neeraai

The movie ‘Writer’ has been getting some rave reviews and it also must be appreciated for some excellent music from Govind Vasantha who has clearly been busy for the last few months composing in multiple projects. Pradeep Kumar is the vocalist and he has sung 3 splendid tracks this month making him the best performer of the month. Muthuvel is the lyricist, for this slow and simmering melody. This starts off with the wind instrument that is haunting, and it sounds very much like that great number “Life of Ram� from the album 96. The tempo is definitely different with this being much slowe still the resemblance is uncanny. The use of thavil and Jalra give the song a very pious and mysterious feeling together.

11. Thaalatum Mounam Ondril'

Yuvan has clearly upped his game recently with releases galore and also composing and producing indie music in Tamil. The song is sung by tamil music’s own nightingale Swetha Mohan with lyrics by Karthik Netha. The song is from the movie ‘Kuruthi Attam’ which has a couple of good songs released earlier. The track is mixed and mastered by M Kumaraguruparan, and it has some excellent programming. The flute solo in the interludes at various points in the song is quite catchy and apt.

12. Alai Alai

This remkae of the fantastic Malayalam movie is eagerly awaited and it has two popular Sri Lankan actors who particiapted in the Bigg Boss Tamil reality show Losliya and Tharshan. I don’t know yet about the movie, but it is a dependable bet that the producers have gone and taken Ghibran to score the music. GV Prakash and Deepthi Suresh are lead vocalists and the latter is now slowly rising as a lead singer , and moving away from the backing vocal experiences. Dr. V Sritharan is the music supervisor while Gold Devaraj is the music assistant as usual. The backing vocals are fantastically done and arranged comprising of Shenbagaraj, Sarath Santosh and Aravind Srinivas singing in various scales almost resembling a A Capella. The ethnic strings instruments keep playing in the background and interludes and it is by SM Subhani while Rithu Vysakh plays the solo violin. The song is mixed and mastered by Abin Pushpakaran and recorded by Wesley. Andria Miranda and Britto David produce the track with all additional song arrangements by Hary Nair, VM Bharath and LJ Vijay. GV Prakash has been pretty busy acting and composing and he delivers his vocal performances quite well too when they are offered to him.

13. Lol Lol Arasan

He is one of favorite young talents Ajesh and he had a terrific album last year called ‘Sarbath’. Here he gives you one progressive /Alt rock kind of a number with some terrific synth and keyboard programming. How creative to get Baba Sehgal to sing this, maybe it was Ajesh’s dream to make him sing for his composition. The male humming that keeps coming often is way to catchy to get out of your head, and the interlude has this saxophone (played on a keyboard) which is splendid in construct and execution as well. Vivek is the lyricist and this song will definitely be playing most audio systems of cars for a while. Keba Jeremiah is on the electric guitars.

14. Running away

6091 is not just a number, it is the moniker of a musician whose pedigree should have actually taken him towards Carnatic music, but it is only the Carnatic space‘s loss that a talented young musician Gopikrishnan moves into indie music. He has been featured here before and he works with some excellent vocalists like Bindu Anirudhan here for this teasing and engaging number. The song is written by Bindu and Shama Ahmed and the song is composed by Bindu as wel. It discusses the mental state of an artist falling prey to externalities which end up driving the artist into a crazy fit. 6091 produces, mixes and masters the track and thanks to his contribution you can hear sounds that you never would in a traditional production. The ultimate purpose of music is to deliver a message through sounds and 6091 uses Lo-fi and instruments found in nature to perfect the output. Bindu’s singing creates a brdige for the listener to cross and enter the mind of this disgruntled musician, who is the subject of the song. Manu Mohan handles the album art.