Songs and musician credits at the end.
There is something very Shaan Rahman-esque about Janah Meri Janah, and I am not even referring to the fact that Vineeth Sreenivasan is behind the mic (though that helps). The melody is nice, though familiar, and more effective in the minimal reprise version because of more soulful singing (Adheef Muhammed), and the fact that Roopa Revathi’s fine violin rendition (same as in the original version) gets more prominence here due to the reduced backdrop. Composer does even better in his remaining two songs. Engane Paadendu Njaan harks back a few years with composer Hesham Abdul Wahab’s semi-classical treatment and P Jayachandran and Manjari’s practised singing (Hesham pitches in with some improvisations in the interludes). The melody lends it equally well to a lounge-ish Electro Dream Version that is sung beautifully by Anne Amie Vazhapilly (who made her debut last year with the reprise version of Ethu Megha Maari from Kochavva Paulo.., the main version of which was incidentally sung by Hesham) and Uday Ramachandran. Nivas owns with his impassioned and nuanced singing the melancholic Kathorthu whose only drawback is the template percussion.
Over two years since his indie music debut (Qadam Badha) and an average film debut in Salt Mango Tree, Hesham Abdul Wahab makes a promising comeback with Cappuccino that scores high on its melodic content. Nothing here to beat my favourite song from his debut album though.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Musician Credits
Janah Meri janah
Composed, arranged and produced by Hesham Abdul Wahab
Singer: Vineeth Sreenivasan
Lyrics: Haseena S Kanam
Guitars and Bass – Sumesh Parameswar
Violin – Roopa Revathi
Female Adlips – Divya S Menon
Chorus – Adheef Muhamed and Alsabith
Recorded at Octaves Studio (Chennai), Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin) and NHQ Studio (Cochin)
Engineered by Manoj Christy, Sujith Hyder and Binil Eldhose
Mixed by Hesham Abdul Wahab at Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Mastered by Vishnu Raj at VR’s Sonic Room (Dubai)
Engane Padendu Njan
Composed, arranged and produced by Hesham Abdul Wahab
Singer: P.Jayachandran & Manjari
Lyrics: Venu V Desom
Bass – Josy
Flute – Rajesh Cherthala
Tabla – Anand
Mritangam – Kammath
Strings – Cochin Strings
Veena – Biju
Harmonium – Berny
Female Adlips – Anne Amie Vazhappilly
Male Adlips – Hesham Abdul Wahab
Recorded at Bhairavi Studios (Trivandrum), Praveens Workstation (Thrissur) and Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Engineered by Shabit Rs, Praveen Iyer and Manoj Christy
Mixed by Kiran Lal at NHQ Studio (Cochin)
Mastered by Vishnu Raj at VR’s Sonic Room (Dubai)
Kathorthu
Composed, arranged and produced by Hesham Abdul Wahab
Singer: Nivas
Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahammed
Percussions – Jino
Flute – Rajesh Cherthala
Additional Vocals – Hesham Abdul Wahab, Zia Ul Haq
Recorded and Mixed by Manoj Christy at Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Mastered by Vishnu Raj at VR’s Sonic Room (Dubai)
Janah (Reprise)
Composed, arranged and produced by Hesham Abdul Wahab
Singer: Adheef Muhammed
Lyrics: Haseena S Kanam
Guitars and Bass – Sumesh Parameswar
Violin – Roopa Revathi
Engineered by Binil Eldhose and Manoj Christy
Recorded at NHQ Studio (Cochin) and Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Mixed by Hesham Abdul Wahab at Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Mastered by Vishnu Raj at VR’s Sonic Room (Dubai)
Engane Electro Dream Version
Composed, arranged and produced by Hesham Abdul Wahab
Singer: Uday Ramachandran & Anne Amie Vazhappilly
Lyrics: Venu V Desom
Engineered by Manoj Christy
Mixed by Hesham Abdul Wahab at Sneham Digital Studio (Cochin)
Mastered by Vishnu Raj at VR’s Sonic Room (Dubai)