Tamil Pop Evolves . Review on Moongil Nila Album - Niru

Unlike Hindi pop, Tamil pop is still in its evolving stage. People here are hesitant and not much interested in listening to non film songs (devotional albums are exceptions). The main reasons are first of all the quality of music is not up to the mark or at par with film music, mostly videos are not made and even if they are made they are very well below standards, even if the music and video are good it is not properly promoted or marketed by the audio companies and finally no big film composers find time to cut their own non film albums which if they do will definitely create an awareness about non film songs and boost its sales. Only very recently we had a very mediocre album called “S5” doing good business because of aggressive promotion by SS music. But here is an album which has a far far better quality of music that also went unnoticed. The album is called “Moongil Nila” and the music is by N. Niru.

The album has 13 songs which are written by popular lyricists like Vairamuthu, Pa.Vijay, Palani Bharthy, Arivumathi along with some new comers. All the songs are sung by leading singers in the industry like Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevn, Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram, Srinivas, Sujatha, Kathik and Tippu. This long list of well known people in the credit list at the back of the wrapper made me to buy this album.

Catchy rhythms

A composer needs to be able to catch catchy rhythms for the songs with some creative inputs in it. Well, Niru has definitely done a good job in choosing right rhythms for the songs. Though almost all the songs are melody, he has added some unique rhythms like heavy bass guitar all through “Azhaithal Mounam” song, non precussive rhtyhms in “Oh nenje”, Arabic beats in “Pennae pogathey”, and synth beats looped in “theme music”. Even the fast songs are basically melodies in this album. Even though some of the rhythms are well known, they are excused as they are apt and synch well with the mood and melody of the songs. For example, the rhythm of “Pul Nuniyil” is nothing but a slow version of the rhythm of ARR’s “Konjum Mainakkalae” song but it doesn’t distract us from enjoying the melody in it.

Fusion

Almost every other song composed these days doesn’t seem to be from a single genre, the fusion is not the trend it is now the most obvious form of the Indian songs. The mix of tabla beats with pad beats or synths is no more a fusion. He has done just that and nothing out of the box except in one song “Naan Sevvanodu”, the rap bit is backed by heavy violin choir which is something I have never heard before.

Melody

As I already said all the songs in this album are rich in melody. The songs are pleasant and soothing with simple tune and melody. Even the rhythm based fast numbers have got melodious counterpart in either the interludes or in the main tune. The bests of the lot among the melody are “Thiruda Thiruda”, “En sawasam”, “Kadhal Porkalam” and “Pul Nuniyil”.

Now on the flip side, as the songs are compositions of already written poems, it is very clear in some of the songs that he has struggled to fit the lyrics into a particular tune. Of course composing tune for an already written poem is as tough a job as it is easy sometimes. When a song is written, the writer would unknowingly add some rhythm and tune in it, and if the composer is unable to get the same out of the lyrics, it will lose its impact. I would suggest Niru to listen to “Bharathi” album in which Illayaraja has composed tunes for Bharathiyar songs; I feel it is the bible for the composers who try composing an already written poem. The songs “O nenje” which has got excellent lyrics by Vairamuthu fails to impress because of this. The song “Mazhaiyaai sila meram” (I use to skip this song) is the worst of the lot. The song “Thayin peyar” starts well but slips off in the middle due to the same fault.

Arrangements and Orchestration

There is no much of orchestration in the songs. There are lot of brief violin choir pieces in the interludes and background of some songs which are all single layered and so can’t be called as a orchestral piece. He has used every other instrument necessary for making melodies like Veena, flute, Sarangi, Sitar, Dilruba, Saxophone, Guitar etc., though these instrument pieces added in the interludes of the songs are composed with care, they don’t gel well in all the songs. For example, Sarangi pieces don’t synch well when used in interludes of the cool songs like “En swasam”, “Kadhal Inbam”, similarly shehnai in “Kadhal Porkalam” and hindustani alap in “Azhaithal Mounam”. He could have used some piano in the songs which is also a nice ingredient that will enhance a melody. Composer has to know what to use when, where and why.

But the same Sarangi and Shehnai pieces fits to T in “Thayin peyar” song. The songs “Pennae Pogathey”, “Thiruda thiruda”, “Pul Nuniyil” and “Thayin Peya” has got apt musical arrangements. The guitar pieces accompanying the vocals in “Pul Nuniyil”, Dilruba pieces in “Kadhal Porkalam”, the whole theme music are some of the places where the composer’s skills come to the fore. Also Veena and Naveen’s flute pieces are good wherever it is used. The usage of Saxophone and Solo Violin in “Thiruda Thiuda” is excellent and it perfectly emote the longing feel in the song.

Versatility

He has tried different genre of songs in this album. “Pennae Pogathey” is a pure Arabic

Song with Arabic chants strings and beats. “Thayin Peyar” is a tribute to M.S.Vishwanathan as it sound like love duets of 60’s with apt usage of instruments like Sarangi, Shehnai, tabla and violins. The theme music though starts in a different note transforms to a devotional piece towards its end with the beats of Mirudangam and flute pieces. Others are pure filmi numbers which can’t categorize in any particular genre.

Above all – Singers

Above all mentioned pros and cons of the album, what makes this album work is the singers. All the singers have done a great job. But my choice is Anuradha Sriram in “Thiruda Thiruda” song. She is the most wasted singer these days as she is given same dappanguthu songs again and again which is not a singer of her caliber should go for. In this song, she is back to her “Andbendra Mazhaiyilae” and “Nalam Nalmariya” era. Her expression, rendition and her unique voice in this song is a treat to listen to. I didn’t like O.S.Arun’s voice at all. He literally has spoiled two songs. Though he renders, his voice culture doesn’t suit for the songs which he has sung in this album.

Final Verdict

Overall this is a good refreshing album which needs attention and Niru is a composer to look for. The album is worth buying for 65/-.