1.  SuperhumanIt is amazing when you can trust a certain name, and can bet on the quality of their work and output. Tarang Joseph is one of those musicians who falls right smack in the middle of that category. A regular on my rankings thanks to some consistently good composition, flamboyant Piano chops and amazing vocals. “Feeling empty” and “Destiny” were excellent tracks that both got featured among the best in the country and now we have this. Tarang gets RANJ on board, a diva with an attitude that makes most of us envious and she comes in with the savvy Rap portions along with Mary Ann Alexander on vocals. Tarang has written, composed and performed as usual with his unmissable role as the Pianist as well. Doc Awes does the musical production and it is one heck of a track possessing all the perfect ingredients.  You don’t have to be feeling sorry Tarang, maybe you and the entire team can feel superhuman for this effort. Surya Kalyan keeps the song groovy and stylish with his bass guitars. Doc Awes ups the game with the splendid horns section and drums and just when you think “wow, love where this track is heading”, RANJ brings the house down with her Rap rendition and many artists wanting to specialize in Rap/Hip=Hip can learn a thing or two from her. The constant Piano in the background with the rap feels like a deluge of energy. The track is mastered by Stuart G Hawkes and on the video credits side, the producer is Yashas Hegde with Denin Day as DOP, Divya Runwal doing the set designs, Akshaya on styling and Deanne on Makeup. Akshit Bahri handles the subtitles, with Saasmit Chhetri directing the video. 2. Is this that feelingA few combinations are always golden, and they work together like magic. Many months ago we had a composition by Meghdeep Bose which was sung by Shekhar Ravijani called “Boonda Baandhi”, a tranquil melody that perfectly fits the impending monsoon in Mumbai. Now we have nothing tranquil about this song, but is scintillating in quality and impact, bringing in elements of Latino Jazz, Calypso styles. Shekhar has composed and sung it with impeccable bravado and here Meghdeep has produced, arranged and mixed the track. The first time I heard, I couldn’t stop singing the title lines, and I only ended up irritating my wife even though she is a huge Shekhar fan, I probably should blame it on my singing. I just wanted to drive the point that this song is contagious so watch out. Priya Saraiya mixes Hindi and English lyrics so beautifully but the Hero is Shekhar and how he delivers it vocally. Meghdeep can’t be far behind and probably he has elevated a very catchy tune into something of monstrous likability. I over the years have attached great respect and admiration for Meghdeep’s work and he time again surpasses my expectations. The guitars right at the start set you up for something fiery along with the tantalizing riff on the guitars and the basslines. The song has some influences of the Vishal-Sheykhar times. Hear the amazing bass guitar notes along with the percussion when he sings “Jo dil mein reh jati hai”. How eloquently Meghdeep brings in the trumpets and Accordion into the fray of things. It is a joy ride and you need to hear it to believe it. The track is mastered by Christian Wright and Joshua Rodrigues is the mastering co-ordinator3. KhatBig names don’t surprise as much as some new singers and composers, when you suddenly hear their work for the first time. It brings a smile wider than the pacific rim. I specifically loved the guitar strokes by Arbaaz Khan who keeps the romantic quotient very high with his ingenious plucking. The line that is my favorite is “Har dam tu, haan tiu, har haal mein tu”, sung beautifully by Durgesh R Rajbhatt and Deepali Sathe. I cannot make out who among the two is more mellifluous, maybe they both equally are. Durgesh composes a soft and tender melody that oozes rich quality. The sound of the percussion instrument which is mostly a Thavil to my mind is a great addition. The interlude on guitars takes the song forward, and the stanza is a beautiful extension of the melody and the vocalists are truly like an oasis in the desert, rare and priceless. Saaveri Verma cooks up perfectly sensible and emotional lyrics that will make you shed a tear thinking of your loved one. Durgesh does quite well on the arrangements and programing which I am sure includes all the rhythms and the track is mixed and mastered by Pranjal Bohra and the recording is by Rahul Sharma and Sameer. The song does have a mild flavor of “Hey Sona, Hey Sona”, which was incidentally composed by Vishal-Sheykhar.  4. Aur kya (Chapter 1)I don’t remember the last time I featured 3 songs from the same EP in 3 different weeks by any musician from the day I started reviewing music. Is this guy Anurag Mishra cut form a different fabric? The previous songs “Khwaab” and “Dhaage” were fabulous tunes and productions and the effort that has gone into each of these is there for all to see. Every song has a story and a video that depicts a message, like this one here showcases the life of Ganesh Vanare, a photographer and influencer.  Very impressive screenplay and theme shows the main character getting a letter from his younger version and the idea of the video was to inspire others through Ganesh’s story. Anurag has composed and written this very touching number that rises and ebbs like a wave. When I heard it the first time it reminded me of an Ajay-Atul score and Anurag should be proud of this comparison. The female vocals are by this Ahmendabad based musician, Krishani Gadhvi and she acts as the perfect complement to Anurag’s tantalizing vocals. The strings arranged in the background along with the Piano, and harmonies are like extremely well assembled blocks in a structure giving stability and strength to the final output. Prasanna Suresh who has been a regular for all his composition/ production work of late especially in collaboration with Sanah Moidutty produces this one too, so he must desrve a pat on the back for all the grand sounds we hear and a fine finished good. Jaichu C and Prasanna Suesh have mixed and mastered the track. As far as the beautiful video goes, Bijoya handles the story, direction and screenplay with Abhii Kamble as cinematographer and photography by Rishi Agarwal.5. Who I loveAnanya has been featured before with a A-grade song called “State of the art” and so I recommend that you first listen to that to know what a high bar she had set for herself. Now we know sequels are always difficult for people to enjoy and they never get even remotely close to being a decent effort after the original. But Ananya stuns me with her “Who I love”. It has the striking presence of Sanjay Divecha on guitars stroking away to glory and he also has adequately flaunted his production and arrangement skills on this one. It is a wholesome number that will please the ears in every way possible, so long as you are looking for music in its purest form. Icing on the cake, well who doesn’t love that, and Ananya has that too for us with Brecilla Dsouza’s backing vocals in the number. If I am not wrong Ananya did the same for Brecilla’s single called “Know you Hail Mary” which too was featured and reviewed here. The reason I called this an icing is because I Have reason to believe Brecilla is one of the finest vocalists out there and she brings a fine element in the harmonies thereby enriching Ananya’s wonderful composition. The guitar notes are a separate song in itself and pay close attention to the acoustic and bass guitars, with some very soothing percussions. The humming is like a lovely pack of birds calling out in love. The electric guitar solo is unexpected and turns the song into something more energetic from there on.6. Mehki hawaIt seems to be a new band of boys from Mumbai and they call themselves ‘The Atlas Project’ (TAP), and I am sure with this excellent and exciting new single their name should soon be on the map. Get it? It is a great move to rope in this talented singer-songwriter Ashish Kulkarni to do the vocals. People might know him from the recent Indian Idol but I have featured him a few times even before for some excellent Hindi indie singles. The band is a pop focus group, but the song is very gentle like the blues, and the song literally feels like the cool breeze as the title says. Soumil Pandit plays the guitars, and I love the drums being so gentle like it barely exists. The harmonies are excellent arranged right from the beginning. The electric guitar solo is splendid after the initial vocals, and let us applaud Jignesh Patel for the high-hat drums and even otherwise for being solid. Archit Shah and Ruparel SMit were together as a duo making music and they probably are the brains behind the composition and programming for TAP. Some of the excellent percussion we hear is because of the specialist Omkar Salunkhe and he has been working with AR Rahman and I remember mentioning his name when I reviewed “Jalwanuma” the song few weeks ago. Omkar is a rhythm programmer, percussionist and rhythm producer. The fantastic bass guitars are by Govind Gawli and it keeps it stylist right through. The song has some excellent layers if you pay attention there are so many instruments coming and going, and I think I also heard the slide guitar if I am not wrong. The track is mixed by Vijay Dayal and mastered by Donal Whelan. Ashish truly experiments with his vocals, improvising the notes and he comes out on top every single time he does that. The song is not without a clean and nice theme and message and it is apparently about a bird called “Mehki” and it talks about the journey on flight it is taking against the heavy winds, probably indicating the journey that TAP itself is taking. I wish them a happy flight, and always a safe landing at the destination. 7. Laage re nainIt is extremely exciting when singers, instrumentalists cross the bridge over into musical composition, just like how actors enter the domain of direction. It is an uptick and a higher run of their professional ladders and it showcases their overall sense and sensibilities in music. Well Paras Nath is a brilliant flautist, just listen to him compete and at times dominate Shreya Ghoshal in “Muraliya” by Salim-Sulaiman released as a part of Bhoomi 2020. Here he as recreated, arranged this song and added some very fine textures and layers to the song. Pratibha Singh Baghel is a walking, singing ‘University of Ghazal style music’, and she nails the vocals. Dilshad Khan’s Sarangi beautifully decorates the interlude along with Pratibha’s swara delivery. The way the song also eludes a Jazz style thanks to the tempo, drums, and bass guitars is a masterstroke. Santhosh Mulekar does the music programming while all the woodwinds and Flute is played by the man Paras himself. The song sounds very much like an influence of Raag Hamsadhwani to my ears. Sameer DHarap does the recording while Elvis Garagic handles the mixing and mastering. The outro with the aalap and flute solo is fitting.8. Have you