Ali Noor, one half of cherished music group, Noori - with Ali Hamza being the other half - is presently recuperating in Islamabad with director-wife Mandana Zaidi.
Like Ali, Mandana also has a case of Hep A and she, too, needs recovery time. After getting a case of Hepatitis A that converted into a life-threatening case with a potential need for a transplant, Ali Noor is now recovering without the need of a transplant, he confirmed to Instep as did brother and Noori band member Ali Hamza on social media.
But, Ali Noor does need time to get back on his feet and feel 100 per cent healthier. This means the solo Ali Noor album, meant to release in 2019 and the subsequent shows Noor had in mind will take time.
While Noori remains on a hiatus, Ali Noor is still spearheading Strepsils Stereo, the acapella project after its colorful first season.
In its second season, having delivered a song called ‘Dil Haara’ that was about modern day relationships and how they break when two people start leading their own lives while being together, months ago, Ali Noor is back - via the Strepsils Stereo platform - with a new version of the breakthrough Noori song ‘Manwa Re’.
‘Dil Haara’, a love song, confirmed Noor, is dedicated to his wife, Mandana Zaidi. The first love song Ali Noor wrote, however, was ‘Manwa Re’ and was originally meant for a film. The song’s release gave Noori a cult following which eventually converted into mainstream following and Noori became the voice of a new generation with three studio albums, one live album, a couple of film songs, singles, and several Coke Studio appearances to their name.
The new version of the iconic ‘Manwa Re’ – sounding as rich - yet completely different and beautiful - as the original track released with Ali Noor performing the track in acapella format that Strepsil Stereo follows. Singer-songwriter, guitarist and music producer, Ali Noor spoke to Instep about the new version of the song and what it entailed.
When asked what prompted Noor to do an acapella version of the iconic ‘Manwa Re’ - Noori’s breakthrough song when they first arrived during Indus Music days - on the Strepsils Stereo platform, he told Instep, “The Strepsils songs - we’d been doing all these original versions - but it wasn’t cutting it because acapella was not being established. What I felt was that acapella aspect of songs requires some familiarity; only then people can sit and recognize how different sounds are being produced. I checked out online as well that all acapella songs are essentially renditions of existing songs of artists. So, I suggested why don’t we give it a shot with ‘Manwa Re’? Acapella is another trip altogether, you make all the sounds from your mouth and then you edit them and put them together and make musical sense out of them – it is one of the most amazing experiences you can have.”
Strepstils Stereo was game and so was Ali Noor.
“I wanted to do ‘Manwa Re’ and they [Strepsils Stereo] were like ‘wow, you’re doing ‘Manwa Re’; it’s really good and we put it together and this is what happened,” Ali Noor said, alluding to the acapella version of ‘Manwa Re’.
Different in sound obviously, we asked Ali Noor how it was constructed musically and while doing so did it bring a wave of nostalgia?
Ali noted, “Well, it was all about putting the sounds together. When we first embarked on creating acapella, we were focused on an original song and creating something new and working on it. So, acapella was becoming a musical instrument. In ‘Manwa Re’, it was just a beautiful challenge to come up with the right sounds; what to do about bass? What to do about beat? How to make the arrangement? How can I make it different from the previous one yet keep the spirit intact? It was a lot of fun and I really like the new rendition because for me there are a couple of sections in that song that I feel I would’ve done even then if I had the mind and ability to do it so it was very interesting. We recorded every part one by one. I took every sound I could think of in my head and if it was too much, it was cut or edited. Ahsan Pervaiz was constantly along with me. He gave some really cool ideas in between, like “do this before the chorus and stuff”. It was a beautiful process.”
Ali noted further: When ‘Manwa Re’ first came out, I kind of did not own it up as such because it was very different from the genre Noori was coming from so I always had this love-hate relationship with this song. People would ask me to play it and sometimes I’d blatantly say no because this is not the rock sound I like and it became like every song bands become famous for and they start hating it like U2’s ‘With or Without You’ because they’re constantly playing it.”
As Ali Noor figured, this love-hate relationship he had with the song got resolved. “This acapella version, I finally fell in love with the song, I have a relationship with the song and all my mixed emotions are gone. I have chance to own the song and appreciate how amazingly and beautifully it has helped me shape whatever musical influences I could create and at the same time whatever I could do for myself musically. This is just another eye-opener for me because this genre of music has become suddenly very close to my heart and I hope to make more songs like this.”