So here is the list of 15 best songs out last month, ordered alphabetically. 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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Aankatti
The movie is a remake of the super hit Malayalam movie Helen, but the songs already seem to have upped the ante thanks to Javed Riaz the composer. We know him as the man behind Lokesh Kanagaraj’s debut film’s music, after some indie singles he’s back with a bang. Roping in one of my favorites Sriram Parthasarathy for this track, Javed provides a meaty melody. It does somehow remind me of that great number “Unna Vida” from Virumaandi but that is no bad inspiration. Lalithanand’s lyrics add weight to the mood and sentiments portrayed by the track. Javed has employed some amazing talent playing the strings from an Orchestra in Prague. The stanza is rich in its melody quotient and that is hard to come by these days without sounding repetitive.
Aarariro
The web-series called “live telecast” did not have a great impact but it is nice that a song form the series is made so well. The singing is by Vaikom Vijayalakshmi which makes you stand up and notice. Talent and abilities run in a family always and Premji Amaren proves that here with a wonderful composition that has loaded instrumentals especially the veena which is totally smashing especially in the interlude. Aishwarya M is the lyricist.
Adi Penne
Stepehen Zechariah must be owning a perfectly working conveyor belt at his home/studios because his compositions keep just coming in at amazing regularity and frequency. This one is another outstanding melody composed and sung by the man himself. I love the fact that he is old school in that he prefers using live instruments and creating songs with a proper predictable structure. Keba Jeremiah is on the guitars while the scintillating flute is by Fenny and violins by Finny David. Srinisha Jayaseelan plays a very strong role as the female vocal lead. This track as part of his ‘Naam’ series pushes his credentials further and higher. The second interlude with keys and the flute is just serenading. T Suriavelan as always has played his part as the go-to lyricist for Stephen.
Kadal thaandi vandhaai
KC Balasarangan composes this grade-A melody set probably with some influence in the Abheri raga and boy does he make this one addictive track. Karthik does justice to the male singing portions and Aishwarya Rangarajan is par excellence especially at the higher scales. For those who don’t know her, check out her Kannada superhit called “Malaye Malaye” from 2020. The outro is just perfect as well with both male and female humming portions. Aravind Kumar is the lyricist.
Kadhal Pookum Neram
Musicians would have to start getting jealous of this man, as he’s the busiest in my opinion in the Tamil scene since 2020. With 4 singles of his own, and many more sung for other composers, D Sathyaprakash is striking gold. He’s the best singer of the month and this one is for the album K3, written and composed by Udhaya Kathiravan. With his singing voice every track does get a massive boost, but this track itself creates nostalgia of yesteryears when the Genius Ilaiyaraja ruled. MS Jones Rupert’s is on the keys and he just weaves magic at every instant in this track. The flute and strings combine amazingly in the interlude.
Kanda vara sollunga
He proves yet again that he is the best composer in TN if not the country (in my opinion). Santhosh Narayanan a.k.a. SaNa delivers a total masterpiece of a track in Kanan’s first single, and the moment you hear Kidakkuzhi Mariyamma’s soaring voice you know, it is one to top the charts. The movie has already created so much of expectation and why wouldn’t it when we have Mari Selvaraj, Dhanush and SaNa combining together. The use of the folk percussion by SaNa is outstanding and this combined with the background music programmed by the composer and his own low-pitched singing, is all just awe-inspiring. Mariyamma is definitely a find and the way she uses vibrato at such higher scales reminds us of what the great man Sirgazhi Govindraj used to do with his vocals. The video of this track is the icing on the cake and makes the track doubly good. Mari himself has penned the superb lyrics. Navneeth Sundar has innovatively used the Geoshred Sarangi.
Lazy Song
Vishal Chandrasekhar is a talented musician but I wish he scored with some greater frequency in Tamil. This is how western classical fusion should sound and feel and kudos to the composer. Sindhuri has sung it splendidly and it is one skillful couple for sure. Her delivery adds more bite to the classical elements and Mohan Rajan and Vishal have worked on some very creative and funny lyrics I must say. Chris Jason’s guitars are so impactful, and the song is programmed and arranged by Vishal to create a fantastic package. Lady Kash comes in and plays a super cameo as well.
Maan Vizhi
Sathya Narayanan is not yet a household name as a musician , but I have been impressed with his work over the last few months. This new track joins a list of some of his good songs as he sings and composes this enjoyable tune. Prithika is the female vocalist who does quite well. He mixes a nice classical tune in there as well and Rio is credited with the mixing, while Stanley Xavier has done the mastering. Sathyajit Ravi is the lyricist.
Maayangal
Karthik has moved up into the zone of composition and now he does that well quite consistently, thanks to a lot of opportunities provided by GVM in his movies. His songs in “Paava Kadhaigal” were quite good too and here this is one “ARRahman”ish track and be ready to be wowed by a teenage sensation who calls himself Krishna K. This kid (if I may call him that) has already launched himself into the scene with features in Rolling Stone India, after his indie single and this track puts him on the map. Karthik needs to be given credit for helping the tamil audience listen to Krishna. The bass guitar along with this programmed instrument that often repeats itself are supporting heroes but Krishna is one fire when he does crazy things with his vocals on “Yaaro yaar sikki”. Let us hope this boy offers us so much more in the years to come.
Malarudhe Manam
This track is owned completely by Shweta Mohan and what an impressive range she possesses in general, with she exploring her lower scales here. The track composed quite well by Dheena Dhayalan reminds me of that track “Vasantha Kaalangal” from the movie ‘96’ maybe just because of the tempo and the guitars. Yet no credit can be taken away from the composer who has created a very complete album with one song appearing in our list a few months ago and another making it to this list. The keys and strings in the interlude are a surprising change and they shift the track’s stanza into another plane which is quite distant from the pallavi, yet Dheena connects them quite effectively.
Mayathe
It starts off with words in Malayalam owing to the setting, but then the majority of the lyrics are in Tamil and written by Thamizhanagu. Harish Sivaramakrishnan starts off brilliantly with his swaras and his voice is simply serenading and it goes well with the constant mridangam played by Naveen Anandh. The first interlude has some stalwarts like Sandeep Mohan on the guitars and Rajesh Cherthala on the flute. Nithya Mammen is outstanding as the female lead and she does possess the vocal texture of Shreya Ghoshal. The song has all the perfect ingredients to be on your playlist for February.
Nee Mattume
Ranjani Ramadoss is a Tamil musician who goes by the name of RANJ has sung, composed and written this funky Tamil number and it is all about the vocals and the attached groove. Songs like this don’t comes about too often especially in a space dominated by movie-based music. Michael Timothy from Chennai deserves a huge credit for producing this number and he has been doing a great job in the last year or so. Arun a.k.a. RUNA has accompanied with his violins. The bass guitars and drums add grace and coolness to the already super track.
Nee Podhumey
Shaktisree is one astounding singer and she can stun you with her vocals but she is not bad either with her composition. She now has made two singles both on the occasion of Valentine’s Day and if the one last year was cute and breezy, this one is solid and melodious. She along with Akshay Yeshodharan who has sung and played the guitars have combined quite well. Kalyani Nair has arranged the strings section, played by the ever dependable Rithu Vysakh. Shaktisree has written the lyrics as well. This track is one pleasant ride into the world of love, music and love for music.
Seevanukke
This song stands out in the whole album and Kaber Vasuki did impress just like his contributions last year for Dharala Prabhu. Yogi Sekar sings with amazing passion and emotions making it heartfelt has definitely does one better than Roja Adithya, the female lead. The bass guitars of Sahib Singh and flute solo by Nathan, and thara thappata all make a great working combination. One must credit Kaber for innovatively using the Mongolian string instrument Morin Khuur, played by Wang Jing. Shallu Varun is on the guitars and the director Halitha Shameem herself has penned the lyrics.
Seladhe penne
You just cannot keep D sathya Prakash out of this game, as here he comes up with yet another single composed and sung by himself featuring Keba Jeremiah on the guitars. Sathyaprakash has gone for a simple yet soulful song this time with minimal instrumentals but never doubt what he has to offer. There are quite a lot of variations inserted into the track that keeps you glued and engaged, rather than just a run-of-the-mill love ballad. Ahamed Shyam is the lyricist.
Vera Level Sago
An ARR song never misses the headlines and neither does it fail in creating a massive buzz and this latest single from the album “Ayalaan” lived upto that. It is catchy as usual and bound to be played multiple times by fans across the state and the best part is that Rahman himself has lent his voice.Vivek is the lyricist and there is a good array of live instrumentalists as well. The Nadaswaram is played by Mambalam Sivakumar, guitars by Keba Jeremiah, piano by Karthik Devaraj. Ranjith, Guberan and Hariprasadh are on the rhythm guitars. The track is mixed by Nakul Abhyankar and mastered by Suresh Perumal.
Yaazha Yaazha
Shruti Hassan Is a very potent singer and that is probably her greatest asset, and thankfully Imman puts that to use in this very striking melody. Her vocals have this innate ability to produce some very unpredictable tweaks to notes and that’s evident here. It’s a pure Imman track with a lot of instrumental interludes and some very unpredictable yet melodic notes in the stanzas. The beat and the rhythm produced by the percussion is quite catchy thanks to Kaviraj. Nathan’s flute and Keba Jeremiah’s guitars are impressive as always. Yugabharathi is the lyricist.
Yaro Ivan
Ganesh Raghavanedra is unknown thus far but I would like to know more about his works, as he clearly comes up with a noteworthy album in Ishwarya Murugan. This wonderful track is sung by Saindhavi who is actually in the midst of a comeback of sorts notching up 4-5 tracks in February itself. The strings, male harmony and flute solo are fabulous in the first interlude with some solid bass in the end. The solo violin which opens up the track and comes in a few more places cannot be ignored. Yugabharathi is the lyricist.