Artiste: Shafqat Amanat Ali
Rating: 3.5/5
Label: Music Today
After delivering one of the most melodious punch packed album ‘Tabeer’ last year, expectations of anything coming from Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali’s table have gone higher. The versatile singer is now back with his second non-film album Kyun Dooriyan – but does the music hook? Though not instantly, it does have the tendency to grow after multiple hearings. The album stands out for its overall pepped up sound, and Shafqat’s experiments with genre’s he has’t really tried before. What more, the â€?Rockstar Ustad’ also treats listeners to an unexpected bhangra pop song in this heavily rock influenced offering.
The album opens with mid tempoed radio friendly track Kyun Dooriyan – a song, which has all the required ingredients of a commercial hit. Kyun dooriyan has that trademark Pakistani band stamp, but though this one makes a great opening track, there are more gems on the album to look out for. The next track Kya Haal Sunawan, which is originally sung by Pakistani singer Zaheeda Parveen continues the somber feel. The lyrics of this song have been re-written by Shafqat to suit his style of composition. Despite mixing folk and rock, he manages to keep the soul of the original song with his vocals – all in all, an aesthetically reworked track.
Perhaps the only track that sounds a bit stale is Jaayein Kahan since it sticks to the typical harkaats or improvisations that we have heard in Shafqat’s previous works. Leaving that aside, there are some cool guitar solo’s to catch on this songs for guitar enthusiasts.
Just when you look out for that one interesting composition on the album, the song Mahiya composed by a certain Raju (no clue who!) appears. There is no doubt, this is one of the best songs on the albums, and well sung by Shafqat. However, its still unclear why Shafqat shies away from giving credit to the composer on the albums liner notes. He vaguely writes, “This song was originally ‘some one else’s’ composition. I changed it to create it in its current form. This is one of the most beautiful tracks in the album, and speaks for itself.” Someone else’s? Really now! But make sure you do give this an ear.
Compositions get even more interesting, and bit more on the peppier side from here on. For instance, the next track Naukar Tere is a great mix of folk and rock. The dholak, distorted guitars and flute, which otherwise are a very strange combination fit really well in this qawali based composition. The best of all, however, is Naal Naal – a high octane head banging track with heavy drums, shredding guitars and high voltage vocals by Shafqat – probably no other hindi song has sounded so good with such rock heavy arrangements, so make sure you don’t miss out on this one. After that rock heavy track, you get thrown in pop – and for sure it makes a good dip. What follows is a bhangra pop influenced Saada Dil, which gives us something we have never heard from the harkat and taan minded classical singer. The song opens with disco beats and a great guitar hook. The overall peppy sound will make you bob your head. One thing is for sure, this album is highly recommended.
Send in your comments to: chirag.sutar@indiantelevision.co.in
