So here is the list of best songs out last month. Have you picked out your favourites yet? These tracks are all set to enter your playlist and hearing them now would be the best thing to do - Check out now!
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Madhubala
Music composer: Vijai Bulganin
Singer: Adithya RK
Lyricist: Tamil Mani
Vijai Bulganin never has disappointed me and he is one composer, I look forward to hearing every single time. There are very few composers in the industry whose music excites me, just looking at the cover art and then even fewer who end up satisfying and meeting expectations. Vijai uses a base melody that is pure and enticing and he then programs and arranges to add beautiful layers. Adithya RK has been working with Vijai on recent projects and, Adithya truly has an affable voice that makes a song sound better. He has a very wide vocal range and that is being put to the test, never mind he passes with flying colours. Sathish Sebastian is the Keyboard Programmer, with Anudeep Dev programming the vocals. Look at the way he sings "poo siricha , enna aaven sollama", and you could see your heart melt away. Abin Sagar plays the Guitars and Ukulele while the brilliant Lalit Talluri is the flautist in charge. Even within the first 1 minute, Vijai builds in so much with a longish Pallavi and Anupallavi. There are 5 variations of lines in just this segment, and that shows Vijai's skill and dedication as a composer. we then have a very nice folkish humming by a chorus team of Pavani Vasa, Lakshmi Meghana and Maneesha Pandoranki. The track is mixed and mastered by Roshan Sebastian with Robin Sebastian as the vocal engineer. The stanza gets a little peppier, but there is no letdown in the melody. This is the pick of the songs released in November.
Konjam Mazhai Niraiya Nee
Music: Umashankar Kannaiyan
Vocals: Umashankar Kannaiyan, Dee Devan
Lyrics: Sathyaseelan
The song is pure genius as Umashankar Kannaiyan brings the flavour of Jazz and Blues into a Tamil song. The last time I featured Umashankar was for a song set in a Carnatic Classical base, specifically Raag Maand. The song "Vaazh" was amazing and now exploring another varied genre like this makes me happy as a music lover and journalist. Umashankar has composed, programmed and performed with Dee Devan as the female lead vocalist who hails from Canada. The drums, Piano, guitars, and strings section are terrific accompaniments and Kudos for the arrangements. Dee's voice is fresh and bright like the morning sun and she has this texture and delivery that suits western styles like Blues. Sathyaseelan is the lyricist who brings the song to life with his words. Even the title line " Konjam Mazhai Niraiya Nee" speaks so much.
Anbe Fadhi
Composer - Rajkumar Amal
Singer - Jonita Gandhi
Lyrics - Dwarakh Raja
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the album 'Parole' recently as every song has something new and different to offer. Rajkumar Amal can be proud of himself for this project as it could easily be one of the best in Tamil for 2022. I had already featured "Vaa Ma Thendral" a month ago. This one is very AR Rahmanesque in nature, the Keyboard programming and synths dominating. I also believe Jonita Gandhi excels as a vocalist here with some groovy delivery that oozes style and attitude. The track is mixed by Rajkumar and mastered by Steve Corrao. All the stunning synths and programming are by Rajkumar himself. I also sense a similarity with Santhosh Narayanan's "Uttratheenga Yeppov". Dwarakh Raja is the lyricist. It is nice to see Rajkumar bring these sounds to the movie space in Tamil, and I promise you will be blown away by the synth-led interludes.
Yaar Solvathu
Music: Deva
Lyrics: Madhan Karky
Vocals" Ajaey Shravan, Srinisha Jayaseelan
Deva has had a purple patch when it comes to Kollywood music singing for ace musicians of today like Pradeep Kumar and Santhosh Narayanan for their albums Vaazhl' and Karnan'. Now it is his turn to compose music and with this song, in the movie 'Amaichar' the tag 'Thenisai Thendral' feels authentic. The use of acoustic guitars and the strings section along with Keyboards is incredibly effective. Deva also introduces the drums and brass section subsequently in the song. It does sort of give me a Keeravani Ragam similarity and it is the most melodious number of the month taking us back to the 1990s. Srinisha Jayaseelan is riding a high with her projects in Indie as well movie albums and she justifies it with a solid vocal performance steeped in sweetness. Ajaey Shravan who has figured in these reviews before makes merry as well. The stanza begins with notes that remind us of SPB's 'Itho Itho en pallavi'. The use of the Clarinet and Violins is brilliant as interventions and it feels like Deva is reborn.
Neeladho
Music - Arrol Corelli
Singers - Madhu Iyer
Lyrics - Priyan
When Director Mysshkin selects his music composer, you better pay attention to that musician. He is someone who gives a lot of importance to the original score and that is why he would pick Maestro Ilaiyaraja for his movie projects. Now in 'Pisaasu' and 'Thupparivalan' Arrol Corelli started composing for Mysshkin and that is when I started taking notice as well. Just check out the movie "Lock up" on Zee5 and you will know what I am talking about. Arrol is also a trained classical Violinist who grew up and learnt the trade under the tutelage of Kanyakumari . This is composed, programmed and arranged by Arrol with vocals by someone I am hearing for the first time, Madhu Iyer. Naveen Chander plays the Flute, Penny Whistle and the Whistle. The deep voice of Madhu as she torments you with the low-pitch singing is a major highlight of the song. Keba Jeremiah plays the acoustic and electric guitar with bassist Napier Naveen. Madhu is brilliant when she suddenly reaches out for the higher pitch singing the title line. Shashank Vijay plays the percussions and rhythm. The song has a close resemblance to "Nee thaane nee thaane" by AR Rahman from the movie Mersal. The strings are orchestrated and conducted by Francis Xavier and performed by Cochin Strings Orchestra with Violins Francis Xavier, Francis Sebastian, Josekutty and Jacob, Carol George, Mariadas, Jain Purushothaman and Danny John on Violas, Albin Jose and Blessen on Cellos, Saju Jose on Double bass and Arrol on the Solo Violin. The track is mixed, mastered by B. Thiru and mix assistant Sreehari. Kushboo and Reethu are the musicians' co-ordinators and Avinash, Hari are the recording engineers
Alaadhiyaanen
Music: ofRo
Lyrics: Ku Karthik
Singers: Sathya Prakash Swagatha Krishnan
I have heard some of ofRo's music when he collaborates with singer, songwriter, and rapper Arivu but this is a movie album of 5 songs entirely composed by him. I did find some interesting stuff here, but this song was not just the top pick in the album but also one of the best in Tamil for November. Sathyaprakash is the male vocalist and if I have noticed right, after a mild hiatus of sorts, Sathyaprakash is now back with a vengeance. He is singing some amazing songs of late, and the female voice belongs to Swagatha Krishnan. I must agree that when she gets an opportunity she just hits it out of the park, like this number for Premji Amaren called "Vaa Kanakku". The way she sings is not something m2undane, and when it has to sound glamorous and steamy, not many can match her. Listen for yourself when she sings " Aiyoo en moochu, ethetho aachu". Ashwin plays the acoustic guitars with Tejas Nair mixing and mastering.
Yaaro Yaaro
Singer: Yazin Nizar
Lyrics: Mani Amudhavan
Music Composed and Arranged by Ghibran
Ghibran manages to do it, I don't know how, but every music album of his always has a couple of songs that are worth your time and they get featured here among the best almost every time. This song has a modern romantic twist aided by guitars, but the core is a very semi-classical tune and I am guessing there is a bit of Saranga Raagam hidden here. Subhani's string instruments do all the wonderful decorative layering, but also pay attention to the Violin by Balaji and catchy rhythms and percussions by Prithvi. Yazin Nizar is a rare gem who sings upbeat numbers with a high vocal pitch unlike many in the industry. As usual, we have Gold Devaraj as the music assistant and Dr. V Sritharan as the supervisor. The solid chorus team comprises of Deepak Blue, Vikram Pitty, Balaji Sri, Deepthi Suresh, Bhargavi Sridhar, Samanvitha, Susmita Narasimhan and Abinaya. A composer we have seen here on this page is Ashwin Hemanth with some spectacular songs for the movie 'Aattral', is here doing the soundtrack arrangements. Hary Nair, VM Bharath does all the additional song arrangements. The stanza seems to be a nicely composed continuation of the Anu Pallavi and we have Nathan and Jai on the Flute with Abin Pushpakaran, Abin Paul and Chandrasekaran TK doing the mixing and mastering. Mani Amudhavan is the lyrisict.
Hey Puyale
Music - Arrol Corelli
Singers - Shreya Goshal & Sathyaprakash
Lyrics - Karky
Arrol Corelli gets another song featured here from the same album 'Kalaga Thalaivan'. If the previous song was by a newcomer Madhu Iyer, Arrol this time draws the big guns Shreya Ghoshal and Sathyaprakash. All the other musicians and technicians involved are the same as the song "Neeladho". Madhan Karky pens the lyrics. Compared to the previous number in the album which was more of pathos, this one is brimming with optimism thanks to Sherya's vocals, the larger-than-life strings section, and wonderful Pianos. The Cochin String Orchestra gives a smashing interlude and then we only get drawn further into the song thanks to the lead vocalists, with Sathyaprakash joining in. Napier Naveen on bass and Keba Jeremiah on acoustic and electric guitars make their presence felt right through. Arrol plays the solo violin while the Cochin Strings team comprises Francis Xavier, Francis Sebastian, Josekutty, Jacob, Carol George, Mariadas, Jain Purushothaman Danny John, Albin Jose, Blessen and Saju Jose. I hope to confirm this but I did sense some Desh Ragam in certain segments. B. Thiru mixes and masters the track.
Kaatril Sikki
Composer: Gopi Sundar
Singer: Deepak Blue
Lyricist: Krithika Nelson
Last month we had two songs from 'Nitham Oru Vaanam' thanks to some outstanding music by Gopi Sundar and here in November, we have one more. Rarely do we find albums with 3 fantastic songs, and Gopi deserves a huge round of applause. Deepak Blue is perfect for this song and the texture of his vocals is something that works for the song. Somehow it reminded me of Stevie Wonder's 'I just called to say I love you'. Krithika Nelson who has worked on this movie as a lyricist as well as a singer in that terrific song 'Paathi Nee Paati Naan' , also pens the lyrics for this one. The song feels heavily influenced by the Alt-pop and Alt-rock styles and Gopi brings in nice synths, Keyboards and vocal harmonies to give a 90's pop song feeling and there can be nothing better than that.
Yen Pulla
Vocals: Vishwanath Haveri
Music: Riyaz MN
Lyrics: Prasad Mahadev
This song is a feel-good number but you can sense the slightly accented pronunciation by Kannada singer Vishwanath Haveri. But there are absolutely no qualms about his voice and texture. The interlude has a nice combination of the Mridangam and the Sarangi which are two instruments that originated in either end of India's geography. Prasad Mahadev writes the lyrics. Riyaz MN does a splendid job in the composition which fuses some nice instrumentals, classical instruments like the Sarod, the Konakkol etc. The song also has some fantastic keyboard programming and vocal harmonies to add colour.
Oonjalaadalaam ·
Music: Surya Srini
Vocals: Swathi Ramachandran, Surya Srini ·
Lyrics: Jennifer Rajasekar
Surya Srini has been featured a few times and he is one young composer to look out for in the Tamil indie space. Here he gets in Swathi Ramachandran to do the lead vocals and she does a style that is reflective of composer Anirudh's cool casual singing. The presence of Keyboards and some Flute and strings section involvement makes for some very interesting listening. Jennifer Rajasekar writes the lyrics for this one and Surya too joins in on the writing. Solid keyboards and programming are the work of Surya who has also produced the number, but it also takes an expert like Rupendar Venkatesh to mix and master this enjoyable and seductive song. Surya also does backing vocals and the highlight is the title line with both vocalists in harmony. The song is a classic example of electronic pop with some lo-fi influences like the part where Swathi sings " inside of me". These are terrific segments which don't get heard much in the Tamil music space, and I must appreciate Surya Srini for experimenting and executing them so well. Swathi excels in delivering the vocals which are quite demanding.
Aiyoo Saami
Vocals: Windy Goonatillake
Lyrics: Pottuvil Asmin
Music: Sanuka Wickramasinghe
We have heard a few Sri Lankan songs in Tamil, and they all tend to follow a well-defined melody, and they exhibit a sort of innocence and purity that Kollywood music has lost over the years. This is one more example with straightforward lyrics by Pottu Vilasmin. The tune is composed by Sanuka Wickramasinghe and the vocals by Windy Goonatillake. I love the rhythms and credit for that goes to Sanuka. Keys and Guitalele also are played by Sanuka and he also does the mixing and mastering. Windy's voice is so pristine and she never tries anything overboard and that is why the song works well. Sanuk'a melody is rich as well with a nice Pallavi and Anupallavi and he backs it up with some good layers of keyboards.