Refreshing collection
Alakalkku
Satyam Audios/ Ekthara Creations
Cost Rs. 60
A lakalkku,’ a collection of Malayalam ghazals composed by Shahabaz Aman, is special because everything gels perfectly – the music, the lyrics and the singing. It helps when the writers happen to be Kamala Das, Kadammanitta, Sachidanandan, D. Vinayachandran, Rosemary and Rafeeq Ahmed. Of the nine tracks, three are published poems, including ’ ‘Orila…’(it’s an extract from Rosemary’s ‘Arithine Ettuvangum’).
Though all the songs in the album are good, ‘Orila…’ towers above the rest. Rosemary writes about the uncertain journey of a woman, using fetching imagery, including a leaf that has just fallen off a tree. Shahabaz’s music gives a new life to the poem, while Gayatri gives it the soul with her superb rendition. She is especially good in ‘Alayothungiya…’ (written by Kamala Das) and ‘Ottumurangatha…’ (penned by Zareena, who seems promising). Among the songs Shahabaz has sung himself, ‘Makarakulir…’ (Sachidanandan) stands out for his rendering as well as the Sufi touch he has given to its composition. Berni deserves mention for the way he has played the oud for this song. Shahabaz also shines as a composer in ‘Manoharam mahavanam…’ (Kadammanitta’s translation of Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’). But he could have found a better tune for ‘Charadu murinjoru…’ (Mohanakrishnan Kalady), for it sounds a bit too similar to ‘Ezhuthiyaranu…,’ composed by M.S. Baburaj for the film ‘Udyogastha.’
P.K.A.K.
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