So here is the handpicked list of some of best songs out this month, ordered alphabetically. Have you picked out your favorites 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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Anbe
Last month we had the same pair create a buzz with a Tamil indie song which also was releases in multiple south Indian languages. I would go as far as saying that it was one of the best last month. It had Sanah Moidutty the star as the composer and performer with Prasanna Suresh as the producer. Here we have a role reversal sort of as Prasanna also takes up the work of a composer and singer in this one and Sanah accompanies as the female lead vocalist. I fell in love with this one too as the song is a beautiful pop/dance song that involves some perfectly rendered vocals. The modern sounds with lo-fi influences and drop in EDM sounds can all be well understood and appreciated by the modern youth. Then comes the vocals of Sanah, and she modulates and shifts the energy and genre to a more melodious tone and I can sense some Maand Raagam here in the stanza. Sriram Ravishankar has played a role in the backing vocals, along with the excellent programming and arrangements. Shravan Shridhar delightfully plays the Violin solo just at the end of the stanza and this is where I could sense some Hamsadhwani Raagam. The track is mixed and mastered by Abin Paul and one of the highlights is the vocalists singing in harmony in the end. Yadhav Krishnan is the lyricist.
Baby nee sugar
Very rarely do dance numbers really captivate me, because the majority of dance numbers are more noise than melody and it is wrongly presumed by the composer that massive beats can do enough, but they have to be combined with a likable tune, varied live instruments and of-course some good singing as well. These are the elements that are well present and employed by Osho Venkat in this single. The composition, synth arrangements and programming is by Osho himself and he lends his voice along with Amala Chebolu as the female lead vocalist. Shuba Shree is brilliant in the electric guitar in the interludes, along with Seenu on ethnic strings and the most intriguing are Maxwell and Babu on the brass section. The humming section is an unexpected break from the trend and it has Amala, Aditi Bhogaraju, Abhiikya, Sruthi Sivakumar and Dharshini on the backing vocals and the male vocalists are Aditya Iyengar, Sai Charan, Arun Kaundinya, Osho V & Lokeshwar. IN a song like this the rhythms matter a lot and we have Krishna Kishor on percussion, Karthik Vamsi on rhythms and Osho on all additional rhythms. Arun Kumar Subramani is on the Talam. Two more talented live instrumentalists are on display in this track with Tanish Krishna on Bouzouki and Omkar DHumal on Shehnai. The outro on guitars and trumpets sounds exactly like how a Ilaiyaraja disco song used to sound reminding me of glimpses of “Ilaimai Itho Itho”. The track is mixed and mastered by Pukhraj Sonkar, and the recording engineers are Raja KS, Naresh, and Amey. A PA Raja is the lyricist.
It’s My kinda day
A young musician who not only gives good music consistently but also tries and experiments successfully with styles and genres. The movie did get some good reviews and Nivas K Prasanna definitely deserves some praise for a getting a kids anthem right on the spot. Ajeesh Sivakumar does a fine job as a young boy exploring many facets of his vocals. He sings the English lines with style and the mild American accent while the Tamil lines are sung with equal ease. The song with its rhythms sounds a lot like “Take on Me” by the pop band A-ha of the 1990s. The kids chorus comprises of Kathirmadhi, Ishaan Suresh, Sibani Suresh, H.Abhinav, V. G.Yuvalakshmi, and P. Amrish. Nivas composes, arranges and programs and you can her some splendid synths. The arrangements of all the vocals deserves praise and credits need to be given to Alex Samuel Jenito. There is a brief moment when Ajeesh does a high-pitched humming which involves great skill and stability and I had to mention it. Naveen Samson Benjamin is on guitars and Hevin Booster is on the additional sound design. Super subu is the lyricist and the track is mixed and mastered by KS Maniratnam.
Another wonderful song I like in this album is Engirundho Vandhaan sung by the majestic and dreamy Pradeep Kumar and we have Brindha Sivakumar as the female lead vocalist on this one. The instrumentalists and sound engineers are the same talented lot for the whole album but NIvas displays why he is skilled by creating two diverse songs in the same album. The song has fragments of Raaga Shankarabharanam according to me in the pallavi. As the song proceeds and we hear the solid and enchanting delivery of Pradeep and Brindha, I also hear some similarities of that song from ‘Rang De Basanti’ called “Tu Bin Bataye”. There are some original words from the poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar and A Mohan Rajan writes some lyrics as well. Keba plays the guitars. I love how NIvas builds up the tempo from a slow melody to a fast paced number aided by guitars and drums. The lullaby effect is thanks to Brindha’s voice and delivery.
Kaalai Maalai
Dharan Kumar is one composer who doesn’t make any fuss or even news, but where it matters, he goes about his business making good music consistently when given an opportunity. This is from an OTT film called ‘Paper Rocket’ and he once again employs the busiest singer in the South a.k.a Sid Sriram. Vivek who writes for many of the top musicians in the industry, has penned the wonderful lyrics. It starts off with guitars and I am especially attracted to the sound of something that feels like the Slide guitar. The arrangements clearly deserve an applause as the percussion along with bass and acoustic guitars go quite well together. The keys are introduced in the interlude and just before this Dharan also employs some nice harmonies. We also get a wonderful breezy solo on the saxophone in the interlude. A pleasant and short stanza follows and the bass guitars are excellent played right through. When the opening lines are sung again the way Sid jumps the scale to sing “eppothum” is memorable and a cake walk for him.
Katheri Poovasam
He is probably, sorry, without doubt the best composer in Kollywood based on recent form, and the quality of songs just keep getting better. Dhibu Ninan Thomas has composed, arranged and programmed this wonder. A song for chorus, by chorus and belong purely to a chorus, it just straight away gets those dancing shows ready for you. The big list of vocalists is comprised of Sinduri Vishal, Deepthi Suresh, Soundarya Nandakumar, Bhargavi Sridhar, Aravind Srinivas, Saisharan, Shenbagaraj and Santhosh Hariharan. The notes just fall into a river of honey when the lines go “Pothum Pothum Metta maathu”. This reminds of Ilaiyaraja hits like “Manathil Uruthi Vendum” and “Madathile kanni” which is why I sense maybe some influence of Raag Tilang. We have already featured a couple of super hit songs from the movie ‘Nadhi’ and now it is time for one more with lyrics penned by Yugabharathi. The Nadaswaram is the instrument that guides the interlude but the thumping percussion never takes a breather. It is such a feel good song and the bassist has just blown me away. With Yugabharathi’s words like “Natpu than kannadi, athil unna paaru” and the Tabla playing right through at a brisk pace, you will be energized by this number.
Maaman Magale
For the month of April 2022, the best musician can be announced even without any competition. It is Ajesh who I have been a huge fan over the last years of my reviewing. Yugabharathi once again pens the words for this song that gives me nostalgia over that famous ARR number called “Aathangara Marame”. Ajesh has composed, arranged, programmed on the synths and rhythms and he also sings here being quite an accomplished singer himself. The two other lead vocalists are Beny Dayal and Pravin Saivi and together this is a wonderful vocal exhibition. The guitars by Keba Jeremiah are stunning all along the opening lines, but the mind just gets lost in that Violin solo piece by Akkarsh Kashyap in the interlude. A thing to take away from the track is the excellent harmonies Balu Thankachan does the mixing and mastering.
Maaradhe Maaradhe
Ajesh scores again for this Andrea Jeremiah starrer called ‘No entry’. Ku Karthik is the lyricist for this song. Ajesh has composed, programmed and arranged and also sung this. The violin solo by Akkarsh Kasyap makes the introduction. Then the song just floats into something of a gentle melody and you will feel like the great period of 2000s when both AR Rahman and Vidyasagar were battling it out with beautiful melodies. The violin solo in the interlude is pure bliss and then the stanza sort of reminds me of “Malaiyin Vedhanai” by Maestro probably because of the tone of the song and the vocal texture being similar for Unnikrishnan and Ajesh especially in the higher scales. Ajesh never settles for something simple and he always gives a juicy and meaty middle portion for every song in a time period when songs hardly last for 3 minutes
Nee pirindhadheno
One more song from the album “Kuttram Kuttrame” as the rockstar Ajesh makes every composer in the industry jealous with his capabilities. The song is once again sung by Ajesh who clearly is one of the best singer/composers around giving Anirudh a tough fight. The pallavi has clear influences of Keeravani Raaga as we can see similarities with “Kaatril enthan geetham” from Ilaiyarajas ‘Johnny’. The duel between the Violin by Akkarsh Kashyap and Josy’s Flute is great to hear in the interlude. Balu Thankachan brings in his expertise in mixing and mastering for the track with so many elements. Viveka is the lyricist and Keba Jeremiah plays the guitars.
Noorariyaram
Al Rufiyan is the composer for this delightful single and the eyes and ears straight away want to focus on one thing, the return of Harini. The song is from the movie ‘Hey Magic Maname’, and we have a melodious number. Haricharan is the male lead vocalist and he is like this well-oiled machine which hardly requires repairs, or instruction. The other male vocalist is Suranjan Khandalkar and we have Ku Karthik as the lyricist. The song has a very Harris Jayaraj tonality, during his peak years and that is helped a lot by the guitars by Chris Jason and rhythm programming where Haston Rodriguez is involved. It is such a delight to hear Haricharan sing the notes that flow like a waterfall in “thoongalame”. Francis Xavier is like a man on a mission as he blasts away with his solo on the violin in the interlude. Sharreth Ravi handles the Tabla and Indian percussions. The second interlude is excellent executed in Qawalli style with the percussions and swaras. The second stanza is where Harini shines brightly and I love how the charanam is completely different from the first which only proves Al Rufiyan’s mettle. Dipesh Sharma Batalvi is the mix and master engineer and Jerin C raj is the supervisor. The recording engineers are Mithun Manoj, Rajesh Kannan, Akhilesh AR, Aditya Vikas, and Praveen Iyer. Rishi does the lyrical video. The song reminds me a lot of “Pookal pookkum Tharunam” by GV Prakash.
Pannapurathu
The man has still got it. Maestro Ilaiyaraja scores this beauty and he works with his son Yuvan to get a great melody going, and this is the second song I love in this album called “Maamanidhan”. Pa Vijay is the lyricist, and it has Bavatharini as the female vocalist. The violins, strings section, bass guitars all give you a capsule that take you back in time to when the King ruled. Just stop everything you are doing, and listen to the interlude, THIS IS MADNESS. It is a blessing that we can still hear some music from him. Sriram Parthasarathy who sang that gem “Elangaathu veesuthe” sings this one with great passion and elegance as demanded by the melody. There is not much you can write new in praise of his music, so it is better to listen and enjoy.
Pogadhey
One of the best songs of last month again comes from the repertoire of Dhibu Ninan Thomas and he gets in Anila Rajeev to captivate us vocally. It has been a while since I heard and featured Anila and I am very glad that she got this opportunity and she definitely grabbed it with both hands. The song is composed, arranged and programmed by Dhibu with lyrics by Thamarai, and this once again is from the movie “Nadhi”. The song feels like a Baul folk song from West Bengal maybe it is the Dotara type instrument that creates that feeling and Anila with her vocals is up to the task. Then the initial lines, the song elevates thanks to Anila’s singing that probably even KS Chitra will be proud of. Segments remind us of “Kavithai Kelungal”, and I feel some influences of Raaga Nattai. Some excellent guitars, vocals and harmonies embellish the interlude.
Raati
In my opinion this is probably the best song of last month. Santhosh Dayanidhi who keeps making some excellent music gave this single a few years ago and now it finally makes into mainstream cinema called “Partner”. In-fact I love two songs form this album. Bamba Bakya and Swagatha S Krishnan are the lead vocalists and the moment the Nadaswaram by Thirumoorthy starts playing. The other really enticing part of the song is when the bench percussions start hitting the groove and this is by Vikram. The interlude on the Nadaswaram is a thing of beauty and joy and Neelu accompanies on the Tabla and Dholak. Enjoy the stanza with background sounds of the Flute and Harmonica by Kamalakar and the mild Sitar by Kishore. You will have to hear the song multiple times just to absorb the entire beauty of it and doing justice. Swagatha joins quite late but it is a cameo for sure that will stay with you for long after. Keba Jeremiah plays the acoustic and bass guitars and we get a full-fledged outro on the Sitar in the end. Mohan Raja writes the lyrics, and the track is expertly mixed by Pradeep Menon and mastered by Suresh Permal. The song is programmed and arranged by Santhosh with additional programming and vocal harmonies by VS Bharan. The music supervisor is Sathish Priyan and recording supervisors are Raj and Sathish.
Colours of Love is another beauty sung by Sean Roldan and Swetha Mohan. It is a pop number that will be heard everywhere from ring tones to playlists, to auto-rickshaws. It is so nice to hear Sean back to singing love songs since his early days. The flute interjection is perfect as an accompaniment, and we get a massive symphony of violins in the interlude, and then to beautify the song just that much more Swetha joins in on the vocals.
Va en thozhi
Ben Human is back and after a long time he is back to soothe and make us groove. The song is once again an uber cool pop/dance track produced by Max Ulver and performed by Ben. The lyrics are written by Lalithanand. The keyboards and synths are the major contributor to the sounds along with some very fine harmonies. Listen and just move around like the King MJ would to these notes!.
Vaa Kanakku
Premji Amaren shows there is definitely some DNA doing wonders here and not just being the nephew of Ilaiyaraja but also the son of Gangai Amaren who was a composer, lyricist and had many facets of talent. Ajay Krishnaa and Swagatha S Krishnan are the lead vocalists. Here too it is Gangai who writes the words. The Nadaswaram is a beautiful start to what might make you think is a classical fusion of some sort. But be fooled and what follows is a fun zany number. Behold when Ajay starts singing, and for many of you who know him it is not a surprise, but otherwise this guy kills it with his imitation of Udit Narayan. It takes us back to the 200s when the great singer used to sing for Vidyasagar, ARR and many more with that accented and sweet Tamil diction. Swagatha shows her diverse vocal skill by sounding sexy in her lower scales which is so different from the other song called “Raati” this month itself. The interlude is once again a beautiful; piece on the Nadaswaram and Thavil. The vocal tone alone is not the similarity; Ajay utters every syllable exactly like how Udit would. The song is just not about these features, it can boast of a very hummable tune and some very creative rhythm programming as well.