When writing about Mallu Film albums, I usually begin by suggesting readers not interested in Malayali music to skip the review/album. This time, I urge every one of you to grab this CD from the nearest Music store.
Through a friend, I knew that Alphons Joseph (MD) is preparing this album. To admit frankly, I did not fathom what was coming out. When you hear, you might wonder from which part of the world these tracks are being churned out. Both e- and acoustic-type guitars have been aggressively used. The last time I heard this type of strong e-guitar usage was in the number ?Etho Kadinjool? in the Movie ?Kaalaalpada?, composed by one of the ex-13AD (a music troup) members.
I am also extremely impressed with the rhythm programming used in this album. For additional information, please refer to the comments section for a detailed Percussion Analysis.
Now, let?s go track by track.
Manju Poloru Penkanavu
Jayachandran, George Peter, Vidhu Pratap
Before hearing this track, I urge you to hold on tight for a wild ride through at least 5 different music genres, namely, Rap, Carnatic-Classical, Western Classical, Pop, and Hard Rock. Let?s examine this one more closely. The song starts with the sound of a tape recorder being switched on. The lines ?We Gotta Get it!? resonates and a mix of sounds and rap are initiated. At the start, if you hear closely, you can hear the use of extremely low pitched keyboard or piano notes.
It is a technique used in several Hollywood Background scores (As in L.A. Confidential by Jerry Goldsmith). When the Rap continues hear closely for a flute piece played intermittently at a different sruthi (pitch) (higher than the rap sounds), which gives a rebellious environment. Just when you get into the pace of the song, Jayachandran?s voice comes with a strong carnatic flavor. This is supported by an intricately arranged chorus.
The Raag that I could identify is Panthuvaraali. From hearing the song, I am guessing that it is an agitated love song or a theatre theme song. As Jayachandran sings the alaap, the background is continuously embellished with raging violins, giving a wave effect. Then the song takes off with a series of theme-imbibing lyrics, with almost each word, strongly pushed by short spurts of orchestra.
But, the MD does not settle into this P/M-Raag, and instead uses daring scale changes. Chorus harmonically utilizes the notes of the raag. To hear the scale change, hear as Jayachandran sings Santhwanangalevide....onnu parayoo?. And then piano notes take us to the next scale. I am not well versed in western music, and hence all I could differentiate was a scale change. Next is the dance jathi swaras executed in the same rhythm as the rap lines.
The next few lines that the male chorus sings reminded me of the song ?Chandralekha? in T. Thiruda. But as I said before, the resemblance is only negligible and it could well be coincidental. Another interesting point is the percussion (Please refer to comments). You will feel the thump of percussion when Jayachandran ends his line ?Thathabashpadhaara?.?. After that, we get to hear a segment of powerful e-guitar. I can assure you readers, that you will not find such an usage in any Indian Music Albums (from at least what I?ve heard).
Ithile Nee
Karthik and Jyotsna.
The song is a pure western (Blues) number with Malayalam https://lyrics. The percussion is simple, and does not for a second interfere with vocals. Electronic sounds have been sprinkled in certain parts of the percussion cycle to give a peculiar effect. To hear those sounds, hear closely when Karthik sings ?Ithilee Nee?..?, just after the second word, you could hear tweaked electronic sounds to give that cool jazz effect.
The first musical interlude reminded me of the composition by ARR for the song ?Anjali Anjali? for Duet. The song is soothing. The second musical interlude uses solo violin. One drawback that I felt was the slightly off-pronunciation by Karthik, though it is not evident most of the times. Sometimes, it might have worked to get that anglo-accent going.
Kashmeera Sandhyae
Shankar Mahadevan, Ganga
I guess, SM can just take a song, and drench it with emotions so that any living soul will start dancing at the first hear itself. Musically, this track is not as complex as the ?Manju Poloru?. I guess the percussion is the famous Rail-beats used by ARR in Niagra (En Swasa). Again, please refer to the percussion analysis given in comments. The best part is the starting of the song. The first few words are sung in a pure-folk fashion.
Then, the catch phrase, ?Halle Halle? starts, and then it?s pure ?guitarian? ectasy. Don?t for a moment think that there is only one guitar playing the notes. There are at least three distinct pieces, with one quieter version intro?ing the lead guitar notes. Both versions have been played with ?sustain? which prolong the sounds giving it a hard-rock style. The anupallavi has at least two distinct parts, with the first part paced fast as the general tempo of the song.
After two lines, SM sings in a typical folk fashion, with a sudden but beautifully merged Tabla in the background. To appreciate this, please hear: Raaga Sandhya Megham Pole?.?, when it is repeated the second time. AJ?s musical sense is clearly evident when instead of reverting back to the pallavi, he takes us right into the second musical interlude from the anupallavi with resonating ?Halle Halle? chants. SM amazes us with his quick singing of Carnatic swaras in between the beats.
Am I dreaming?
Sayanora
This is the most ground-breaking track of the album. Why? Because it is Western, in whichever way you hear it, or feel it. It is complete with light piano notes, light high pitched flutes and perfect execution of English lyrics by Sayanora. This has never happened before in Malayalam cinema, and perhaps in Indian Cinema as well. The song does bear some similarities with Kenny G?s number with Tony Braxton (How could an angel break my heart). Again, I have to admit, due to lack of familiarity with that genre, all songs look similar to me.
Kai Niraye
Sujatha
This is a typical teenage, bubbly track which should most probably be the track for introducing the main actress in the movie, Amritha. The main characteristic that I could distinguish is the use of some techniques used by Ilayraaja (IR). To hear the specific trick, please hear to the anupallavi and notice when Sujatha sings ?Azhagu Mazha Pozhiyum?.?. After those words, the MD has used the typical base guitar sounds interspersed with flute. That base-guitar sound was commonly used by IR. Overall, I thought that this was an ordinary song.
The moment I heard the album, it took me by surprise. I start hearing to the rap lyrics, and then suddenly the tunes slow down and carnatic notes are sung. I never expected to find a pure English song tuned from this part of the world. Not in my wildest dreams did I expect an MD to tune a blues track in malayalam. This album, could send shockwaves through many MDs? hearts.
It could show what Alphons is capable of, especially since he has already tuned a village type album and a semi-urban type of track. He has proved that he can take on any challenge. What next? One thing is sure, I can say that the day that the MD?s next album released, I will grab it with all the energy I have! Imp: Pls read the rhythm/percussion analyses in the comments section
