I'll tell you what is possible, a girl falling in love in her teens, and then maybe even facing the ignominy of a breakup. She could even be humiliated and harassed emotionally and she finds it hard to even move on with her life at that tender age. Being able to eliminate a troublemaker from your life is itself a herculean task. Now I'll tell you what is impossible, for a girl to go through all this, and at the end of its write, sing and release a song that makes it to the Top 200 of DRT charts, and Top 20 of World Indie music and European Indie music charts. I am talking about Aditi Iyer a 17-year-old Opera trained singer, now how cool is that? Now, this is not a representation of her own experience, but a visceral picture painted by her based on her friends. That is why it is even more difficult to be able to get the entire emotional element right like the way Aditi has achieved in this song.  She has already been featured by me for her work in the EP Dollhouse and I particularly loved and appreciated her song titled Tearing me open. Looks like Aditi is in no mood to relax and enjoy her past successes as her latest single is breaking records and entering global indie charts. I personally felt Aditi did a way better exploration of her own vocals in the EP, as she moved across either end of the vocal range in the songs as I once again hear her Tearing me open. As a reviewer who owns the responsibility of being constructively critical I can only say that Aditi must and could do much better vocally looking at her training and background. Having said that the theme of the songs, then and now, is different and in Aditi's defence the song is about one deleting her ex-boyfriend's number, so the calmness in her voice and delivery is justified. You hear her and you cannot fathom the strength and stability of her vocals at the age of 17. Electronic pop/dance appeals to the younger tastes across the globe and the lyrics are something that every teenage music lover will relate to. Hence it is no wonder looking at the popularity of the song and Aditi has been handed a huge helping hand with Rohan Solomon on board for the composition and production of the song. Rohan has been a regular with many of his scores being slower in tempo and involving an array of live instruments and the Strings section especially, but with this, it is his chance to showcase his diverse skill as a composer and he brings in elements like the female harmonies almost to suggest that Aditi is not alone in expressing her emotions. Rohan also mixes the track and Dan Milice masters it bringing a very fine end product and Anushree Chatterjee handles the artwork design.   I love how we hear a glass crashing against the wall probably indicating how the guy is now getting a similar treatment. The sound design and production are exemplary as just past the 2.30-minute mark there is a break in the tempo, and only the Piano accompanies Aditi's desperation and gravity maybe expecting the boyfriend's message asking for reconciliation. Thankfully her sanity prevails and the drums ante up to bring her back to reality. The layered vocals singing the same title line but with durational lags work well echoing the same thoughts of Aditi like her conscience asking her to stay strong about it. This song is a perfect recipe for global recognition, as the primary intent of a musician should be to connect with his/her audience and Aditi Iyer and Rohan Solomon team up to stay true to that cause.

https://youtu.be/LUEw0lBS068 It starts off and takes me back many decades in time to “Aduthathu Ambujathaâ€? which was an iconic song in all of Tamil music. Krithika Nelson is a musician that caught my attention a few months ago with a splendid track called Nee/Naan and like I have always claimed, there can be nothing more gratifying than listening to a composer who knows exactly what she wants to express and executes it with perfection. Now let us go back to this track at hand I love the visual imagery is conveyed brilliantly through the singing, instrumental programming and arrangements. The Thavil is positioned perfectly and the rhythms programming must be applauded. Krithika has composed, written and sung this one and isn’t she rising? What absolutely thrills me is that she just shifted gears and planes from her Nee/Naan which had pathos and sobriety to Pi Pi Dum Dum which is a rush of sugar and spice coated all over a joyful wedding scene. The vocals add important layers to the track and this is where Arjun Chidambaram is involved. The “Pi pi piâ€? humming is excellent and reminds me a lot of Dhee’s texture and tonality, and Arjun takes up the lead position also singing some lines in between. The “I am only here for the sappaduppaâ€? is witty and relevant considering how true it is for most people attending weddings. The acoustic and bass guitars provide just enough string support without disturbing whatever transpires in the foreground. The Nadaswaram has a Lo-fi modulation which is interesting and to put all the Pi Pi and Dum Dum as vocal sounds rather than instruments is innovative. I can see how this song can certainly be a very good choice to be played during the marriage season as a nice ice-breaker between the bride and bride-groom’s families The lyrical video has some funny and apt animation by Shyam Kabi who has also done the VFX. S Manikandan handles the art direction and illustration. A person who grew up in TN and especially would know what “kadala podarthuâ€? or “kadala varukkarthuâ€? would mean and it is interesting how those animated groundnuts are depicted. When I heard the lyrics and song I was eager to know how the video would turn out, and it is intriguing without any disappointment. Why did I assume that the girl saying “I’m only here for the sappadu paâ€? was just a relative attending the wedding? The real twist was knowing it was the brides singing these words! The track is produced by Jerin C Raj and mixed and mastered by Mervin T Thomas. In all fairness I have come to expect even more from Krithika and that is not a bad thing for any artists to hear. Her singing and creativity stand apart in this one but she needs to and she can extract much more from her repository to give us all music of even higher quality. 

Gautam Agrawal, a young musician has recently released a new song Uljhanein. It tells his experience in the last two months, as he mentioned in the video description. He also said that his music is just going to get better from now on and I wish the best to him.   Now let’s talk about how I felt when I listened to this song. Talking firstly about the music, I felt it was engaging and mysterious. The background scores kept me occupied with the song and made me listen to it till the end. There is a similarity to the uber-hit called “ Tanha Dil” by Shaan released back in the 1990s. The song is loaded with synths and keyboard programming along with vocal harmonies in the background.  Next comes the video which starts with Gautam’s friends asking him "is he alright" and why he keeps listening to a particular song, in reply to which he answers that he feels connected to this song and it’s time to tell everyone his hearts desires or ‘dil ki baatein’. Even in the song, he mentions many times, that from now on he is going to say what his heart feels and also asks the people to not take it seriously by the line ‘dil pe mat lena inhe’. The video consists of snippets of Gautam alone. The places he is at are all empty. I think this resembles his heart. How he feels may be alone in his heart. The walk shows his efforts in trying to get out of this sadness and the window scene tells how he is feeling stuck.  Talking about the lyrics of the song and something that I pay most attention to. Lyrics always tell the story of a song. And the message that Gautam wanted to give through this song is clear. The song ‘Uljhanien’ tells about the problems that he is stuck in. He is trying to tell that he is in a dilemma but now he is deciding to do what he wants. The thing that confuses me is to who is he dedicating the song? My assumptions are that he is either talking to god, society or an ex-lover, through this song. But I can’t quite make which one it is. But maybe that is what he tried to do. That is what the song is - to make your own assumption and connect it the way the listener wants. Another bonus point I would like to add is that I really liked the way he added small dialogues/ phrases between the song. The dialogue  ‘Log kehte haiKuch bhi do baar soch ke bola karoKyun do baar soch ke boluEk baar Kaafi nahi?’ is something I really liked. It shows his will, his power, and his decision to not listen to others anymore and say what his heart feels, do what his heart feels. And isn’t it right? Sometimes by waiting to think twice before speaking anything we lose the importance of the words and the situation. Isn’t it better to say what you feel, instead of keeping it inside and regretting later !!? And then it continues as : ‘Log samajhte hai mujhe kuch aata nahiPar ye waqt hai ki ab unhe batana haiKi mujhe Kya kuch nahi aata’  These lines are also very motivating. In the end, he has finally made a decision to stand up for himself and show others what he is capable of. This was my review on the song go give it a listen yourself.  

1.    YaadeinThey have always been on the radar, have ‘Last Minute India’ a band from Mumbai that primary focuses on Alternative rock as the style. ‘Yaadein’ is a single that belong to the album called” Kaagaz Ki Naav”. The song to me is their best yet, amongst all the ones I have heard so far and it finally shows the true potential of the band. The core strength seems like the lead vocalist Abdul Shaikh and he impresses right off the bat sounding like the stylish and husky Atif Aslam. The band is equipped with all elements and very efficient instrumentalists and we have the drums by Yash Khona and lead guitars by Austin Furtado accompanying Abdul on vocals. The rock quotient is quite high and it hardly takes the band 1 minute to showcase that, as we hear a fabulous and zingy electric guitar solo with Bhumit Gor on Rhythm guitar and Subodh Gupta on bass guitars. The drums and guitars take a back seat allowing Abdul to perform both emotionally invested and charged and when the tempo and energy needs to be raised the pounding drums and crackling guitars set the stage on fire. Subodh also joins in on the backing vocals which form a nice layer and he writes the lyrics as well. The track is mixed and mastered by Jagdish Bhandge and the impressive artwork is by Sanjana Kadam. Very often when we have a rock band, the lead vocalist is more focused on having a high decibel level alone, but here Abdul Shaikh is immaculate in his delivery and all his vibrato and only to be matched by the electric guitar. Darshil Gala is the band’s manager.2.   KaashNatasha Vora reached out to me when she released her new song called ‘Kaash’ and this was her debut Hindi single. I had not heard of her before especially she is settled in Los Angeles, but it took me under 5 seconds to fall in love and be entirely prepared for the magic that was about to unfold. This singer-songwriter who was born in Bhiali, Chhatisgarh went to study economics, and when she decided to quit that to pursue music, a star was born. Being a economics buff myself, I reckon the world has too many of those, but needs supreme musical talents like Natasha. She has written, and sung this song with Akshat Pradhan being the brains behind the production. The song is a guitarist’s delight and we need to stand up in appreciation and approval for Hunter O’dore’s excellence, and he apparently studied at the Musician’s University in LA along with Natasha. She sings like a dream and not just an ordinary one, it feels like a dream within a dream within a dream which I just don’t want to get out of, something like in Nolan’s ‘Inception’. The use of harmonies adds that blues feeling to the song and one can just shut his/her eyes and be transported to New Orleans with Hunter’s basslines. I love the lines “ Toh rukh ja, samja mujhe, oh rukh ja, bas thodi der”, and how the rhythm stops and pauses accordingly. Samarth Dhawan does the mix and master with Katsuya Sezaki doing the recording. Franco Salas is the photographer and Anushka Tendolkar handles the graphic design.3.   KanhaThe giants are back and that too with a bang. Ajay-Atul are probably one of India’s finest composers and I love it when don’t rest on their past laurels but rather create melodies and scores at a rampant consistency like this. The other songs in the album are worth your time and I will be writing a bit about “Bai Ga” also but this one is something that will hold your attention and raise your hair, well it just did for me as I was typing the review.  The strings section is brilliant and just truly is a representation of their idol Maestro Ilaiyaraja. Ajay-Atul compose, arranged, produce and conduct the brilliant Orchestra as well. Ajay Gogavale is the vocalist and reminds us of some of their smashing hits even before ‘Sairat’. The track is mixed by Vijay Dalal and mastered by Gethin John. Chinmay Mestry is the sound engineer and Guru Thakur is the lyricist. The line “Muralitsa” and the strings that follow will melt you into surrendering to the beauty and powers of music. The fusion of the Konnakol and symphonic strings in the end is fantastic.The other song I do love is ‘Bai Ga’ which sounds a lot like there is a Raag Puriya Dhanashree influence. Aarya Ambekar gives a spell-binding vocal display and it feels like you are on this incredible floating hot-air balloon soaring higher and higher without a worry in the world. You will be enthralled by the world of percussion that Ajay Atul bring you into with Vinayak Netake and Prasad Paddhye on the Tabla, Krishna Musalem Satyajeet Jamsandekar on the Dholki and finally Prarap Rath, Ajay himself and Satyajete on percussion.  The Sitar is played by the genius Purbayan Chatterjee in the interlude supported very ably by the men on Tabla in the stanza. Listen to the mild Keys in the background. Towards the end Varad Kathapurkar plays a dazzling solo on the flute and I remember him from his performance in “Me Vasantrao”. The chorus comprises of Aditi Kulkarni, Maithili Joshi - Panse, Mrunmayee Dadke, Sharayu Date, Sonali Karnik, Shalmali Sukhtankar4.   NilashakalamIn an age when songs hardly extend past the 2.5-minute mark, here is one splendid Malayalam number that spend more than 70 seconds just on the Pallavi and Anu pallavi. The anupallavi portion is probably the best portion with some enchanting assembly of sounds from live instruments. We can hear the strings section by Cochin Strings and played by Francis Xavier, Josekutty, Carol and Albin and a separate solo on Violin by Francis. The Keys play along in the background and they are programmed by Dil Vinu who also does the strings arrangements. Dr. Sandeep R is the composer and he has also produced the number with lyrics by Dr. Sukesh RS. Arvind Venugopal is the singer and he brings a freshness to the table through his vocals. The interludes and the stanza are laden with excellent strings and the track is wholesome for various reasons both vocal and instrumental arrangements. I love how the stanza gains traction, as it starts off slow and pacified but feels like a raging wave as it ends. The mixing and mastering is by Mani Ratnam and Teena Mary joins in on the backing vocal where we hear her humming. The recording engineers are Jisto George and Sanjai Arakkal, with artwork by Roshan Xavier.5.    Tere BinaIf Natasha was studying economics before moving into music, here we a full fledge finance graduate from NYU who decided it was time to take up music whole-heartedly. This is just so positive to hear and read because it is all proof that no matter what you do, you can always work on your dreams and make your way closer to achieving it. His name is Arnav Maggo a singer-songwriter from Delhi and he combines with another precious talent called Vasuda Sharma who studied in Berklee College of Music. It might start off to give an impression of a run-of-the-mill song with guy and his guitar, but be surprised as it elevates with every moving second and note into something magical. As the title suggests the song is about a bond between two people that is heading towards its demise, something we never want to experience but it is one of those inevitable things at times. So the sadness is deep-rooted in the lyrics and delivery styles as well. The song is performed and composed by both these lead artists with Vasuda on lyrics and Arnav on guitars. Arnav does exceedingly well in the baritone kind of scale, and when both of them sing we get so invested in the message like Vasuda asking “tumse juda hokar jayein kahaan”. The strings section is the surprise package and that steals the show giving the song gravity, meat and what not. Severn Duo play the strings, and watch-out for some magic on the strings at the 3-rd minute mark, just before the bridge section. A solo violin plays adding to the pathos and the outro has a well arranged bit with the lead vocalists singing in unison almost making us hope that they never separate but only unite. The mixing and mastering is done by the expert Anindo Bose at Plug ‘N’ play studios. As far as the video goes Shrutiman Deori and Kirtiman Singh do the conceptualization and cinematography. Arjun T Bhardwaj handles the editing and Makrand does the Color grading. A special mention to the Severn duo comprising of Jess Townsend playing the Violin and Tom Mccluskey on the Cello. 6.   Just another pretty face There are different kinds of music lovers, the one who focus on the lyrics, and then those like me who just focus on then music, notes instruments and vocals. Apparently this song was penned by Mithun when he was in a bad place but eventually came out of it with flying colors and the song is a message to everyone out there to cut the bad company and be focused on the good things in life. Such a great thing to hear from a young musician and he is already a Doctor from Manipal who can sing and compose. I am sold in-fact much before I knew all this about the guy, the purity of the song, and its overall production had me captivated. Rajath Rao is the producer who deserves a massive round of applause for giving the song direction and depth. Adesh Vinod plays the guitars and supports the very likable vocals of Mithun Kiran who very ably manages a nice falsetto too. We have another expert in Roshan Sebastian on mixing and mastering, and I loved the bridge portion which only glorified the track further. Let us hope Mithun needs no more disappointments in life to create great music like this. He has written, sung, composed and co-produced. The outro on the electric guitar feels like sweet redemption something that Mithun would have felt at the end of all this.7. Kannil PettoleVishnu Vijay is a dependable musician who will get you some brilliant original music that will not only please listeners at that given juncture but also stay in our hearts for many months together. However in my opinion what separates a great musician from a good, is ones ability to score music across genres and not just be a one trick pony. With songs like this Vishnu rises past the “good musician” category for sure, as this funky brass section-filled musical will make you dance, sing, and revel in joy. Vishnu also sings this number with great efficacy and the Arabic and Malaylam lines on the female vocals are by Irfana Hameed. She has also written the rap lyrics herself. The song is composed, arranged and produced by Vishnu. Subhani plays the Oud, Ruan, Saz and Babu is in-charge of the brass section, which mainly has trumpets and maybe trombone. The song just reminds me of “Sususudio” by Genesis the band, which had Phil Collins. There is one small segment, which acts like an interlude as Subhani plays the Oud at breakneck speed. Deepesh Krishnamoorthy is the manager and vocal producer, with recording engineers being Kashyap Ram Mohan, Prince Joe and Nishant. Sujith Sreedhar is the mixing and mastering engineer.

1.    For who I amI reached out to Arunaja a few days ago, saying how overwhelmed I was listening to this song. I am going to repeat what I told her, so here goes. I was walking back home coming down the metro station stairs, wearing my headphones, going through a massive list of songs pending for listening and reviewing. It was all happening steeped in monotony, and suddenly The Piano and Arunaja’s vocal struck me. I literally lost my balance as my mind was not aware of the events and people around me, but deeply engrossed in the music. I felt like I was listening to some of the greatest musicians the world has known in the pop genre, like a Madonna, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Carlton, Celine Dion, and so many names. Arunaja soars to a level I haven’t heard in a very long time and she definitely occupies the top tier of Indian vocalists with this number. The music drew me in and I was shaking my head, thanking the heavens for giving me the passion to listen to so much of music, just so that I stumble upon a song like this. Arunaja writes, composes and performs this with Keshav Dhar’s emphatic production. This is proof that a voice to kill and a Piano to plunder you can do more magic than David Copperfield. The way she sings and introduces such minute vibrato et the end of each line is worth paying attention to. The title line as she sings “For who I am, for who I am not” you will surrender to the song’s capacity to allure and mesmerize you. A big applause to Sonu Milton who slays the song as he plays the Keys, as it is nothing shot of phenomenal. If you actually pay attention, or even without that Sonu’s Piano has a aggrandizing effect on you and just as much as Arunaja serenades with her vocals, Sonu turns out to be the Pied Piper. The production value is heightened by Keshav’s hand in this along with his expertise in mixing and mastering for the track. Designer Aki does the artwork, with Azhar handles the photography. Arunaja plays it mild and vulnerable, in the lower scales and she performs with full bravado as she sings “would you stay here for a while, is there something holding you back”.  The unison of the vocals, Piano, drums and guitars towards end is an experience you must feel yourself, and watch out for the outro where Arunaja goes full blast on her vocals, and this is where I feel privileged and determined to keep going on as a music reviewer.2.     Nadichaa NadichaaJust last month Osho Venkat impressed with a fantastic dance song in Tamil, and that was featured by me. In an age where dance music is simply perceived as a collecti9n of remixes and heavy percussion, Osho did a wonderful job with his song “Baby nee sugar”. He ropes in two amazing singers in Chinmayi Sripada and Amala Chebolu. The electric Veena played by Haritha shows some influence of Abheri Raagam. Srikrishna is the male vocalist for the song and he has this tonality which sounds like SPB Charan, but it all starts with Chinmayi’s voice.  Osho’s programming and Synth bass is spaced right through. Sandy’s solo violin comes in at the interludes and joined by the Veena making it one stunning epoch in the song. Amala brings her A game as well as the table, and the moment in the stanza when thee singers sing in union is breathtaking. The instrumentl arrangements are exemplary with Shuba on acoustic guitar, Jobin on Clean guitar, and Tanish Krishna on Bouzouki. The talam is performed by Arun Subramani, with Abhiikya, Sruthi Shivakumar & Dharshini on chorus. Pukhraj Sonkar has mixed and mastered the track. 3.     2 ChordThis 2 –man act called Itra hails from Bengaluru and they have been producing some good singles in Hindi. The duo of Vinod Patney and Naren Thota met back in 2015 and they have been performing quite well, although this is the first time I’m hearing their work. It didn’t take me more than 10 seconds to love the track as it had all the right elements straight off the bat. Vinod plays the guitars, and he has composed, written and performed the lead vocals while his partner Naren does the production, arrangements and sound design. The guitars sound way too cool, and matching that with Vinod’s oomph on the vocals creates a super setting for a drive. The vocal harmonies in the background and the drums and electric guitar sounds are just too fabulous to ignore or be indifferent to. The drums have a certain way about them and I love the beats where they hasten and increase the count without altering the tempo. The song totally feels like something out of the “Rock On” album by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, and this is meant to be a ravishing compliment on the Itra. Decaville is the mixing engineer and Andres Mayo does the mastering. The video animation is thanks to Priyanka Thampi, Kaushik Mandal and Rahul Tampi  4.     BechariYou may call her the Bpraak of the female world, or why? Just know her name, and you will probably not get such an impactful voice like hers even if you look hard. She is Afsana Khan. She sings like she has not 1 but two pairs of lungs and listen to her in full flow here at unimaginably high scales. The melody is composed by Nirmaan and lyrics too and Goldboypro does the production and arrangements. Apoorv Ghai and Mansi Singh conceptualize and execute the project. The string instrumentals maybe along with the percussion and the humming add to the beauty in the interludes. This is one song that will impact you with the depth and sadness as it plays along.  5.     Colors I seeA year or so ago I have featured her and then after a brief hiatus she’s back, Pritha Ghosh.  The artist has written, composed, produced and performed this stunner, with Karthik Nair also producing, mixing mastering and recording. She does some unbelievable vocal jugglery in certain instances but the way her voice captivates you and doesn’t let you lose attention for even a second is what mystifies me, listen to her sing “If only you’d understand”. The guitars have a strong presence and more than just fill the gaps when there is a vocal pause. The art work is by Afifa Eram.  6.     SnowThe EP called “Gramophone Goodbyes” has some good music, but ‘Snow’ thrilled me the most. Arka Saha has written, composed and sung this while Varun Murali produces this at his studios ‘the red music box’.  Tulip handles the photography and Tarun Mishra does the cover art. I write this on a Wednesday dated 1st June, when two artists on either end of the spectrum of achievements died, one being KK the singer and another being this young Indian Frank Sinatra called Sheil Sagar of just 22 years. Arka Saha’s singing and the Organ make my heart swell in sadness. The guitars and string section in the background add such layers of depth maybe to signify life just like music is beyond the simple truths that we can comprehend. There is a nice vocal arrangement as well where the backing vocal follows the lead with a very mild marginal lag. Arka’s singing is emotionally apt singing “When the winter comes, you’ll understand”. The bridge segment is even more powerful “I know, you know my pain, but your pain is too much” with the strings intensifying. Like he says, it is ludicrous! 7. KhamakhaGive a album/song to this guy and he will compose a score, that absolutely befits the theme and message. This is a story of a cricketer who arrived very late in to the scene after many years of struggle and hard-work and obviously there had to be an inspiring anthem of sorts, and Anurag Saikia delivers. The movie showing the rise of Pravin Tambe is well appreciated and I couldn’t think of anyone else who was ideal to score for a movie of this appeal. His trusted man Vivek Hariharan is the lead vocalist and he leaves no stone unturned singing this with immaculate passion. Shakeel Azmi is the lyricist, and Ishan Das along with Anurag produce the songs in the album. Even as the singing happens, there is so much instrumental backup happening and Japjisingh Valecha has done the additional production and orchestration. The extremely popular and efficient Cochin Strings handle the strings section, and the team comprises of Francis Xavier, Herald Josekutty and Francis Sebastián. The interlude has the woodwinds playing and we have two phenomnela instrumentalists on duty in Tejas Vinchurkar and ID Rao. Vivek shows his skill by being so delicate in segments and raising the decibels when he has to and all that happens seamlessly without a struggle. A song like this sounding like an anthem can never be a success without the backing vocalists and that is why Gauranga Shekhar, Arabinda Neog, Rakesh Deol and Sudhanshu Shome deserve credit. The guitars are played by Ishan Das and with mixing by Ninad Lad, mastering is done by Gethin John 8.     Now she KnowsAarifah Rebello is someone I’m hearing for the first time, and rightly so because this is her debut single. The fact that many young indie musicians have now started delivering superlative debuts is really heartening to see. This young heap of talent starts things off quite slow with the gentle guitars and it is almost a one –woman show with Aarifah writing, composing, singing producing and playing the acoustic guitars. Bharath Kashyap accompanies her on guitars with the solid bassline support by Yohan Coutinho. The song felt like

1.    Jao Piya They come back with one more massive stunner, as Maati Baani has now mastered the production of some of the best Indian classical fusion today. Continuing with the great singles that they have released in 2022, here we have Nirali Kartik and Kartik Shah (duo of Matti Baani) featuring two splendid Indian instrumentalists in Ambi Subramaniam and Abhay Nayampally have a fantastic duel on the Violin and Carnatic guitar respectively (a modified version of the guitar that sounds like the Mandolin his Guru U Srinivas played).  Kartik produces this breathtaking rollercoaster of a song while both NIirali and Kartik compose it. Nirali lends her voice and Kartik also plays the acoustic guitars. The song straight away begins with Abhay on the Carnatic guitars and immediately followed by the Tap dance. The rest of the cast on instruments are a global list of musicians, with some from Ukraine, was it all symbolic in a way to spread peace and send a message? Apparently the music was created and recorded mushc before the war, and coincidentally the day the song released, was also when the Russian attack on Ukraine began. The musicians are Anastasiia Avramenko, Sergey Ostapenko on Tap dance, German Dmitriev, Olga Ulyashenko on Violin, Alanys Arauz, Sanja Smileska on Viola, Isidora Novakovic on the Cello. Tao Issaro plays the Cajon and the bassist is Shalini Mohan. The solo on the Violin is brisk and solid and there are influences of Raag Sarang strewn around, but vaguely I also heard some traces of Carnatic Raag Kaapi. The interlude on the Carnatic guitar and Konnakol is interesting like a Jugalbandhi and Ambi and Abhay then set the tone for a violin – guitar tete-a-tete. The anatara showcases Nirali’s prowess as a singer and Anubha Bhat joins in as the music supervisor. Don’t forget to pay attention to the percussions on Cajon and the Tapdance and the cool underlying tones on the bass guitar. Francisco Nicholson has mixed and mastered the track, and editing and grading is by Kartik.  2.     Nachchesinde I have been listening to some of the singles by RR Dhruvan and whether his indie projects or movie albums. This is one spectacular number that enthralls the listener, accompanies by some very effective instruments, and a top-notch vocal exhibition by Sid Sriram. I particularly loved the acoustic guitars by Joel Sastry, who also plays the electric guitars. The beats and percussion have that very recognizable tone like the song “Venmathiye” by Harris Jayaraj. The song is composed, arranged by Dhruvan and programmed by Bharth Madhusdhan.  The stanza has a very fine melody and as it progresses, I sensed some similarities with SPB’s “Ayiram NIlave Vaa” especially towards the end. Kasarla Shyam is the lyricist and the song is mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen. The Sarangi is played by Manonmani in the second interlude reminding us of the interlude from the AR Rahman number “Snegithane” in the movie ‘Alaipayuthe’.  3.     LighthouseStevie is a musician who I have already featured before for a track called ‘Free’ where it was a band called ‘Nobody’ and Steve played a part in the band. Stevie goes solo here with vocals, but hands over the sound design and production to Rhenius Hudson. The splendid solo on Violin you hear right from the start is by Fenny Daniel, and he accompanies right through. It is not something we hear often, but the guitars and Violin go well together and add a little bit of Piano in the background. It might seem like a regular pop song, but credit to the creative production that sets it apart from all the crowd. Isaac Philip does the mixing and mastering and other video credits include Karthik Alagar Sivakumar as DOP, Pooja Venkat on Colour and Editing, Ritchie Michael Gomez on Titling and Graphics. 4.     Guilty minds title trackThere was so much hype around this Web series called ‘Guilty minds’ on Amazon Prime Video, that I was engrossed in reading all the reviews and so on, but little did I Know that its music would be such a breath of fresh air. Nobody ever wrote about the music, but U guess that is where I come in and project and propagate the image of the musical side of things. Anyway I was walking one fine morning to work, and it is habitual for me to wear my headphones and listen to a huge list of new releases. I had zero expectations when the album opened, because I have tuned my ears and heart to expect nothing great from the Hindi movie and web series, space. However as the first title track played I was blown away and my day got a new lease of life. I had to immediately search for the composer’s name, and I hadn’t heard of him before. Sagar Desai is the brains behind this tune and he has already won awards for the OTT movies “Kadkah” and “Ram Prasad Ki Tehrvi”. The Cello by Leo Velho will just grab you and hold your attention without a second of distraction. Swanand Kirkire sings it with a Kishore Kumar styled rendition and that gives it a very retro feeling. Shellee writes the lyricsand Ishan Naik mixes and masters the track.Hakk MaangteCyli Khare sings and composes this Marathi song that hits you like an iron rod on an anvil. The guitars are intriguing and with the Tabla, the tone is one of a woman in pain and probably demanding justice and her rights from a corrupt system. The Flute solo plays notes that add to the pathos. Jayant Digambar Somalkar pens the lyrics with Rajat Parasanna stunningly playing the flute. Amey Thakurdesai plays the Tabla and Ishan Naik mixes and masters the track. Dil Choor Choor HuaDivya Kumar sings many singles, but this is one is different and sounds nothing like he usually peforms. The song is once again composed by Sagar Desai and has a Rock ballad tonality and it is the guitars by Siddharth Chopra and Cello by Leo Velho that hold you hostage. Leo simply sizzles in the interlude along with the drums, and to electrify matters more we have a electric guitar solo by Siddharth that makes this song, something Shankar Ehsan Loy would have gladly included as a part of the album “Rock on”.5.     Tera Tha Tera Hoon