MUMBAI: The Award-winning urban folk artist Kutle Khan is known for his electrifying performances as well as extensive collaborative work with distinguished artists from across the world such as Susheela Raman, Midival Punditz & Amit Trivedi among others. After having performed in over 70 countries across some of the finest stages, festivals, venues and formats such as Coke Studio & IIFA, Kutle is now focussed on showcasing his individualistic body of work as an artist. Starting with the performance video single of Jhirmir on August 17th, 2022 where he has collaborated with his favourite Producer Gaurav Raina (of Midival Punditz), the singer will be releasing a series of Indian Folk Electronica singles this year.
Rooted deeply in Rajasthani culture & lyrics in the casing of a strong dance floor vibe, Jhirmir sets the tone of the refreshing new feel of renowned Rajasthani folk star Kutle Khan’s sound for 2022 and beyond. The multi-talented, world-traveled musician is regarded as one of the finest folk artists of the country, who covers the Indian Folk and Sufi genres passionately.
With his new music, he’s keen to present a different side of his art with the aim to bring a contemporary aesthetic to his folk offerings. The very first song from the lot – Jhirmir, as the title suggests, talks about rain and carries the emotions of a wife missing her husband who is away this monsoon season.
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“All songs about rain have their own special place in the world and their own charm. I’m happy to share Jhirmir as a monsoon special release. I feel it stands at its own unique place because of the beautiful blend of the very best traditional Rajasthan folk that I bring, along with Indian electronica by my wonderful collaborator Gaurav Raina sir (one half of Midival Punditz) who I have worked with so often.”
The artist describes monsoon as a time of myriad emotions and as also a great muse. “Music and poetry are the best expressions of emotions such as that of a wife longing for her husband in Jhirmir. I had heard this track in community gatherings as a child and really liked it. I was suddenly reminded of it a couple of years ago, while I was jamming with a few friends and it started to rain outside. I sang a few lines of Jhirmir then and realised that we rarely hear these songs anymore. So that was the moment I decided to document this, so re-structure/re-composed it and went to Gaurav sir (Raina), says Khan.
Well, the proof as they say is in the pudding, so stream Jhirmir and let the electrifying rhythm of the track tell you the rest of the story. Click here to stream the performance video single of Jhirmir
Khan will be releasing a series of singles throughout the year with 4 very talented Producers including Raina.
The Urban folk artist feels very passionately towards preserving his heritage and in fact, is probably one of the first few and only Manganiyar musicians to have won GIMA and TIIFA (The Indian Icon Film Awards). Hailing from a family of musicians, this master of the khartal from the land of the Rajputs began playing music at the age of 8, learning every instrument he could get his hands on. Khan plays over 10 instruments such as the dholak, khartal, bhapang harmonium and also writes and composes his own songs.
