Oct 12, 2004 12:49 PM
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(Updated Oct 12, 2004 12:50 PM)
First of all it was shocking to see there are no reviews written on a path breaking self titled debut album of ?Colonial Cousins?. The album is nothing short of a revolution in Indian pop music. The album got released in 1996 which is the most critical period of evolution of a new genre of music called ?Pop? in India.
Hariharan, the well known playback singer and a Gazhal singer with a strong base in carnatic and Hindustani music join hands with Leslie Peter Lewis a well trained guitarist and a music composer to make a unique fusion of contemporary western music and traditional Indian classical music in this album.
The outcome is an out of the world music. Even if the album got released now it would have become a massive hit. The music is timeless.
The album has totally 9 tracks. Almost all the songs are composed by Lewis and in some tracks Hari shares the credit of the composer. The English lyrics are written by Lewis himself and Hindi lyrics by Rajeesh Jhori.
The album is a fusion of different kind of fusions. This is not an album with same kind of fusion in all the songs and also not a usual fusion where classical vocals are mixed with western rhythm and beats in the background. They have shown some difference is each number. The album is evident of the creativity of the Duo.
Let me categorize the kinds of fusions that I traced out
Category 1: In this kind, both forms of music retains its own identity and goes in synch when layered in parallel. In this album, it is Indian verses sung in its style with western background.
~ ?Parula Vedanu? interwoven in an English song ?It?s gonna be alright? with catchy beats in the background.
~ The most popular ?Krishna nee begane? preluding the song ?Something the way?
~ Above all the classical swaras and alaps rendered extraordinarily by Hariharan is blended with English chants and fast beats and rhythms in the song ?Let me see the love in your eyes?. Hariharan?s voice and ability to sing alaps in synch with the tempo of the western beats is the soul of the song.
~ But I don?t think ?Vakra thunda? sloga preluding the song ?Sa ni dha pa? will fall in this category but the above three definitely will.
Category 2: In this kind, one of the music form loses its identity and disguises to the other and this kind of fusion is a difficult task to accomplish but to its advantage this album has includes a lot of this kind. It appears in three sub forms such as
~ Indian verses sung in western style with western background
Though the album doesn?t try much of this sort, it has transformed the very basic notes of Indian classical music ?Sa ni dh pa? to western style of singing and that indeed is highly innovative. It is often repeated in the English song ?Something the way? which takes the otherwise simple composition to greater heights.
There are two more songs ?Forever Mine Forever Yours? sung by Lewis and ?Teri Meri Aankhon mein? sung by Hariharan in which the former has nothing to do with fusion and it is a true English slow, soft and romantic melody with nice guitar pieces but the later with the same tune and arrangements has Hindi lyrics sung by Hariharan in a western style but not in Hinglish. No doubt, both the songs are pleasant to hear.
~ English verses sung with Indian classical notes
This is the most enjoyable part of the fusion where ever it is used. It is getting even better when sung by Hariharan. Listen to Hair?s classical rendition of English verses in
In ?It?s gonna be alright? ? at the end almost a whole stanza is sung in this style especially listen to the way Hari renders ?I need you? with appropriate ghamukkas.
Also in the song ?Let me see the love in your eyes? he dominates the whole track with his seamlessly flowing swaras and alaps and the puching line is when he renders the same line ?Let me see your eyes? in classical style at the end. Especially listen to the way he twists and stretches the word ?your? in this, it is an awesome stuff.
~ English verses sung in Indian folk style
The best thing is that they didn?t restrict the fusion to Indian classical music and they have extended it to some of traditional folk music. Though we have got lot of folk style in India they have picked Qawwali style and Fisherman folk.
?Feel Alright? by composition is that of a fisherman folk and the way the chorus sings ?Feel alright? at the end of each stanza proves it evidently.
?Adrian?s angel? is a techno qawali number with usual ?sona? and ?Soniya? in such songs replaced by ?angel?. The female part of the song is sung in Hindi and only the male part goes with English verses. These two songs are really refreshing and enhance the variety and versatility in the album.
There is one song which I haven?t not mentioned so far, it is my favorite track in the album titled ?Indian Rain?. I could call it a fusion but unlike other songs it a perfect blend of both and are inseparable. What can sound the rhythm of rain better than this ?Dheem Dheem tha Dhirana dhara? rendered fabulously by Hariharan in this song? The usage of Sax, guitar and Lezz?s singing style holds up the western content of the song. The usage of guitar is awesome in this song and it sounds the fine droplets of rain. Mild usage of percussions later adds flavor to this already rich number.
Instruments: Lezz being a guitarist himself has extensively used guitar in all the songs and it is main ingredient of western sound. It has been used to the best and in right way in all the songs. The best thing is that they didn?t use much of Indian instruments except haunting flute piece in ?Krishna nee?, Veena piece in ?Let me see the love? and some Indian percussions for the folk rhythms but yet they managed to come out songs rich with Indian flavor.
Hariharan: He is the numero uno when it comes to rendering alaps. Almost all the songs have his voice running all around the western stuff and taking centre stage. No words to describe my admiration on his divine, soothing voice and ability of singing especially in this album. If Lezz is the brain, Hari is the heart of this album.
Lezz: He has pulled some good catchy tunes, rhythms and beats to make the songs appealing to masses. The best thing is he has good singing ability also. All the songs are written by him. Unlike contemporary pop which is made with bad lyrics just as filler to suit the rhythm, he has penned some meaningful lyrics in all the songs. Mostly he has written about Love and the exceptional one is ?Krishna nee? in which he has written some extraordinary lines for the peace of the world and it?s longing for a good leader. I feel writing English lyrics for such Indian fusion is a very tough task as the words has to fit in the Indian notes, but he has managed to come out with his best to suit the tune in the songs like ?Adrian?s angel? and ?Feel alright?.
