Solo – Music Review (Malayalam/Tamil Soundtrack)

You can listen to the songs here: Tamil/Malayalam

Musician credits at the end.

World of Rudra

First of the four worlds in Bejoy Nambiar’s anthology film is the one that has every composer involved firing on all cylinders. Director’s most trusted composer Prashant Pillai kicks off the proceedings with the incredibly infectious Roshomon. Drawing from Russian folk music a la Vishal Bhardwaj in Darrrling (except in this case the whole song is Pillai’s own), the song just blows you away with its pace and energy! Among the two versions, I find the Tamil lyrics (written by Mohan Raj) a better fit than BK Harinarayanan’s Malayalam version (the former, around that Raja Raja bit, briefly took my mind back to Agni Natchathiram’s Raja Rajadhirajan). Electronic fusion outfit Filter Coffee’s Swarupa Ananth and Shriram Sampath present a snazzy makeover of their 2014 single Takita Dha, as Sajan More Ghar Aaye. The spellbinding take on the traditional raag jog based bandish retains most of the original setting – Jahnvi Shrimankar’s classical vocals, Mahesh Vinayakram and Swarupa’s konnakol/bols etc – what is new is Govind Menon’s work on the violin that fits snugly into the alluring mix. A reprise version of the song has Jahnvi and Aditya Rao going free-form, sans the vocal rhythms or the pulsating beats. The dominant atmospheric soundscape of Sita Kalyanam with the folk percussion making sporadic appearances is associable with composer Sooraj S Kurup’s past works, but the classical fusion angle the composer brings to the traditional wedding song is refreshing. While the composer also handles the vocals, it is Renuka Arun who dominates the department with her classical-flavoured singing.

World of Siva

Masala Coffee reproduce their 2016 adaptation of the anandabhairavi raga based Malayalam folk song Aalaayaal Thara Venam as is in the opening track of this segment. The highlights of the track are Sooraj Santhosh’s singing and Krishnaraj’s violin solos. They however give the song a fresh treatment in the minimally orchestrated reprise. This version rides largely on claps and Preeth PS and David Crimson’s fab guitar play; the guitar solo in the interlude sort of took me back to the guitar version of Thaalam from Job Kurian’s album of the same name (on a related note, the non-inclusion of Job in this soundtrack hurts; he would have been such a perfect and deserving addition to this lineup IMO). The devotional song Aigiri Nandini has seen a lot of adaptations in recent times, but Thaikkudam Bridge produce the most badass-sounding cover for Solo. With the band’s frontman Govind Menon and Meera leading the vocals, the dark song steps up its energy levels to manic at exactly halfway mark, and from there it is a hypnotic trip riding on Mithun Raju’s guitars! My favourite track from the set though is Govind’s solo act Shiv Taandav where he gives a trippy ambient setting to Saylee Talwalkar’s spectacular rendition of the song originally composed by Ragini Bhagwat. Bindu Nambiar sings the reprise version of the track titled Shiva Omkara, which almost feels like an extension of the improvised bit that acts as the prelude for the former.

World of Shekhar

Another of the album’s indie re-creations comes from Agam, who repackage the folk-rock fusion piece Boat Song from their debut album as Oru Vanji Paattu (Dhevadhai in Tamil). While Harish’s vocals continue to be the highlight in both versions, like in the original, the changes in the arrangement didn’t quite work for me. Quite glad that they decided to retain guitarist Praveen’s interlude solo though. Even the romantic angle introduced in the Tamil lyrics sits at odds with the song’s general vibe. The band however taps into the same aarabhi raga vein to create a beautiful, soothing piece called Thaalolam (Uyiraagi in Tamil) that even ties back to Oru Vanji Paattu with the boat chants towards the end. Riding on Shashaa Tirupati’s top notch delivery, this one is equally effective in both languages, and sees some lovely touches in its arrangement (loved the naadaswaram prelude). Ex The Local Train man Abhinav Bansal’s composition too comes in bilingual form. Thoovaanam/Kandu Nee Enne is a finely executed breezy track, riding on Vijay Yesudas’ vocal skills and some fab guitars (wonder if the faint breathing sounds during the interludes were a deliberate inclusion). Sez on the Beat’s Singa Kutty is the runt of this pack – the folk segment led by Chinna Ponnu is engaging, a lot owing to the lady’s vigour, but the hip hop fusion is just middling.

World of Trilok

Gaurav Godkhindi, another of Nambiar’s long time collaborators, composes three of the four tracks in this part. Two of which – Karaiyaadhe and You are basically variants of the same song. Sidharth Basrur does a commendable job of singing both versions of the well-realised pensive track that has an interestingly dissonant interlude (not sure if it is a violin/viola that is playing there). Godkhindi’s other composition is an instrumental titled The Cyclist Theme, a sombre tune that slowly but effectively builds up towards a crescendo. The final track of the set, Separation, comes from Govind Menon – a haunting and minimally orchestrated melody whose highlights are Govind’s own splendid violin playing and Ashita Ajit’s humming.

I have said this before too; nobody does multi-composer as consistently right as Bejoy Nambiar, and in Solo he has outdone himself, both in his choice of musicians and songs. Outstanding soundtrack this!

Music Aloud Rating: 4/5

Top Recos: Too many to name, just go listen to the whole thing!

 

Musician Credits

Roshomon

Music – Prashant Pillai

Lyrics – Mohan Raj/BK Harinarayan

Singers – Ashwin Gopakumar, Arun  Kamath, Niranj  Suresh, Sachin  Raj, Rakesh  Kishore, Alfred Eby Issac

Guitar – Alok Kulkarni

Chief Assistant & Additional Programmer – Sreerag Saji

Mixed & Mastered By – Hari Shankar

Recording Engineer – Sai Prakash

Assistant Engineer – Akshay K

Studio – My Studio, Kochi

Musicians Co Ordinator – Murali Nair

 

Sajan More Ghar Aaye

Music – Filter Coffee

Lyrics – Traditional

Vocals – Jahnvi Shrimankar, Mahesh Vinayakram

Additional Vocals (Konnakol) – Swarupa Ananth

Song Arranged & Programmed By – Shriram Sampath

Violin – Govind (Thaikkudam Bridge)

Special Thanks – Earthmoments

Mixed & Mastered By – Harishankar  At  My Studio, Cochin.

 

Sita Kalyanam

Composed & Arranged – Sooraj  S  Kurup

Lyrics – Sangeeth Ravindran, Sooraj  S  Kurup

Singers – Renuka Arun, Sooraj  S  Kurup

Violin – Francis Xavier

Mixing & Mastering – Kiranlal

Recording Engineer – Binil Eldhose

Studio – Nhq Kochi

 

Aal Ayaal

Band – Masala Coffee

Singers – Sooraj Santhosh, Varun Sunil

Guitars – Preeth P.S & David Crimson

Keyboards – Joe Johnson

Violin – Krishnaraj

Bass Guitar – Paul Joseph

Percussion – Varun Sunil

Drums – Daya Sankar

Arranged & Produced By – Masala Coffee

Mixed & Mastered By – Jayakrishnan, Mumbai

Manager – Sarath Chandran

Technical Assistance – Binoy B.T

 

Aal Ayaal – Reprise ( Walk & Kill Mix)

Band – Masala Coffee

Singers – Sooraj Santhosh, Varun Sunil

Guitars – Preeth P.S & David Crimson

Keyboards – Joe Johnson

Violin – Krishnaraj

Bass Guitar – Paul Joseph

Percussion – Varun Sunil

Drums – Daya Sankar

Arranged & Produced By – Masala Coffee

Mixed & Mastered By – Jayakrishnan, Mumbai

Manager – Sarath Chandran

Technical Assistance – Binoy B.T

 

Aigiri Nandini – Eye For An Eye

Additional Lyrics – Dhanya Suresh

Singers – Govind, Meera

Kids Chorus – Thaikkudam

Mixed & Mastered By – Amith Bal

Recording Engineer – Sai Prakash

Recorded At – My Studio, Kochi

Produced & Performed By – Thaikkudam Bridge

 

Shiv Taandav

Original Composition – Ragini Bhagwat

Adapted, Composed & Produced By – Govind

Singer – Saylee Talwalkar

 

Singa Kutty – Bring On The Chaos

Music – Sez On The Beat

Lyrics – Ankur “Enkor” Johar, Raghav Jock, Chinna Ponnu

Singers – Ankur “Enkor” Johar, Raghav Jock, Chinna Ponnu

Percussion –  R. Vikraman

Nadhaswaram – D. Balasubramani

Recording – Rajiv Menon Studio Chennai

Recording Engineer – G. Lawrence Vishnu

Arranged By – Sez On The Beat

Mixed & Mastered By – Sez On The Beat

 

Kandu Nee Enne/Thoovaanam

Music – Abhinav Bansal

Arranged & Produced By –  Abhinav Bansal

Lyrics – Dhanya Suresh/Kutti Revathi

Singer – Vijay Yesudas

Mixed & Mastered By – Harishankar  At  My Studio, Cochin.

 

Oru Vanji Paattu/Dhevadhai Pol Oruthi

Music – Agam

Produced By – Agam

Lyrics – Manu Manjith/Mohan Raj

Singer – Harish Sivaramakrishnan

Guitars – Praveen Kumar

Keyboards – Swaminathan Seetharaman

Additional Programming – Yogendra Hariprasad

Bass Guitars – Robi Dominic Gomango / Aditya Kasyap

Recording Engineers – Hriday & Akshaj

Mixing & Mastering – Hriday Goswami

Recording Studio – Space Studios And Format Studios , Bangalore

Mixed & Mastered At Pranava Studios, Bangalore

Indian Percussions – Saji Pappan

Chorus –  Ruhi Ahmad

 

Thaalolam/Uyiraagi

Music – Agam

Produced By – Agam

Lyrics – Manu Manjith/Mohan Raj

Singer – Shashaa Tirupati

Guitars – Praveen Kumar

Keyboards – Swaminathan Seetharaman

Additional Programming – Yogendra Hariprasad

Bass Guitars – Robi Dominic Gomango / Aditya Kasyap

Recording Engineers – Hriday & Akshaj

Mixing & Mastering – Hriday Goswami

Recording Studio – Space Studios And Format Studios , Bangalore

Mixed & Mastered At Pranava Studios, Bangalore

Indian Percussions – Saji Pappan

Chorus –  Ruhi Ahmad

 

Sajan More – Reprise (Unchained)

Music – Filter Coffee

Singers – Aditya Rao, Shriram Sampath, Jahnvi Shrimankar

 

Separation

Music – Govind Menon

Singer – Ashita Ajit

 

Shiva Omkara

 

Music – Ragini Bhagwat, Govind Menon

Singer – Bindu Nambiar

 

Karaiyaadhe/You

Music – Gaurav Godkhindi

Singer – Sidharth Basrur

Lyrics – Mohan Raj/Gaurav Godkhindi

 

The Cyclist Theme (instrumental)

Music – Gaurav Godkhindi

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