Milliblog Weeklies – India’s only multilingual, weekly new music playlist.
Week 216: On Spotify | On
13 songs this week. All the songs are available on both YouTube and Spotify.
Naan Gaali – Good Night (Sean Roldan) – Tamil: Breezy, wonderful melody by Sean! The brilliant surprise is the way both the interlude allude to an Ilayaraja-style sound and the passages (anupallavi) that follow are straight of Raja’s repertoire! Kalyani Nair makes up for my usual, minor annoyance with Sean’s raspy voice, even though I should say that I have considerably warmed up to it by now 🙂
Kadavul Thantha – Yugi (Ranjin Raj) – Tamil: This is a song I missed last year, so let me make amends and add it at least now. Ranjin sets the tone for the ‘Pesum Mazhaiye’ breakout hook so well with the melodic opening. The singers, Pradeep Kumar and Saindhavi Prakash, are, as usual, so very dependable to handle a melody like this. Ranjin’s rhythm for the anupallavi is incredibly catchy, and the other nuances like Manonmani’s Saarangi, make the song so much more likeable.
Adugulo Adugunai – Geeta Sakshigaa (Gopi Sundar) – Telugu: Exactly what I expect from Gopi – a soft, pleasant melody that points to some raaga that I really lie, but couldn’t put my finger on it. And the semi-carnatic sound cues add to the song’s charm! The singing, by Amrutha Suresh, is what really sells the song.
Deva Raaja – Baby (Vijai Bulganin) – Telugu: The songs released so far from Baby did not work for me, but finally, here’s one that did… and how! The song is built almost like a stellar showcase for singer Arya Dhayal and she just totally aces it, complete with a classical alaap in the latter half of the song! Vijai layers a wonderfully engaging tune on top of a racy rhythm and the contrast produces a beautiful effect.
Thone Mohangal – Adi (Govind Vasantha) – Malayalam: Typically Govind-style lush melody with a beautiful humming layer that stays in the mind long after the song is over! The shift in the rhythm in the anupallavi and the tune too is fantastic! Govind’s singing is great, as usual, but it is Haniya Nafeesa who rules the song!
Ore Pakal – Pookkaalam (Sachin Warrier) – Malayalam: Why does Sachin score music so infrequently?! The sound he assembles in Ore Pakal is absolutely mesmerizing! Not just the instrumental sounds, but also the melodic phrases, they are so unusual and fresh. Shahabaz Aman’s soulful voice leads the song and KS Chithra’s addition is a pleasant surprise given that she has finally been asked to sing, in recent times, something that is not a maudlin mother-sentiment tune.
Thandalubaariye & Chewing Gum – Ayalvaashi (Jakes Bejoy) – Malayalam: Thandalubaariye’s highlight is the ebullient chorus that lifts the endearing melody considerably, along with the nadaswaram and veena combo. Chewing Gum, on the other hand, is a total contrast – the droll singing (Muhsin Parari, Jakes Bejoy, and Akhil J Chand), the droning sound, and the catchy techno sound, all make it interesting in an entirely unusual manner.
Kaaga – Ram Sampath, ft. Sona Mohapatra (Indipop): The usually reliable combination of Ram’s music and Sona’s singing works once again, no surprise. Sona’s singing is, expectedly, the highlight, even as Ram embellishes the folk’ish tune with that ‘Na ve re mahi’ hook that runs with an alluring background sound.
Saara Jahaan – Manav, ft. Akanksha Bhandari (Indipop): A sweet, simple tune that gets better as it progresses. The melody and sound reminded me of Ritviz’s style though this seemed to have more layers than the average Ritviz song 🙂
Leja, Dori & Taaj – Lost Stories (Marigold Soundsystem) – Indipop: The 3 songs in the new EP by Prayag Mehta and Rishab Joshi have a similar style of sound – a rich folk sound associated with Punjabi weddings. On top of this, the core melodies gel perfectly, led by Jai Dhir. The extended interludes and musical pieces in all the 3 songs make for a wonderful listen, best played together, back-to-back.
