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Instep Today

Looking at post-Eid music releases

By Maheen Sabeeh
Tue, 06, 18

Umair Jaswal, Kashmir drop new music videos; Jason Derulo and QB join forces for ‘Colors’ and a closer look at Cornetto Pop Rock 3 releases featuring Strings and Asim Azhar.

After a relatively quiet month of Ramazan, where music releases slow down significantly, Eid-ul-Fitr and the days after have brought a ton of music to us, including singles and music videos – some expected and some right out of the blue. Instep gives you the lowdown…

Our story begins with ‘Colors’, a song featuring singer Quratulain Balouch (QB), who has a remarkable voice and range, and American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo, who was also a part of Pakistan Super League 3.

Noted a press statement, “With the 2018 FIFA World Cup taking Pakistan by storm, Coca-Cola has released the official World Cup Anthem in Pakistan, ‘Colors’.”

The track is not connected to the upcoming season of Coke Studio but is in fact a one-off track that is meant to celebrate the spirit of football. The video is, as you’d expect it to be, about football being played in the streets and in corridors, but also more. An electronic song that is right up Jason Derulo’s alley merged with dhols and beats and electric vocals of QB. The result is a very good, urban, happy song that has potential to stay with you long after the World Cup is over. It features players from our football team, which is good to see, as well as both artists dancing, singing and looking happy doing it as opposed to the bizarre, forced choreography that we see in film songs. The video is symbolic in the sense that it is a celebration of not just the culture of football but diversity itself, made potent by the fact that the video is shot in Haiti and Karachi.

The second video is from singer-songwriter Umair Jaswal, who revealed to Instep in an interview last month that he plans to release his first solo album this year. The first track from that record, titled ‘Na Rahoon’ has dropped and features some of the most thrilling musicians of our times including Faraz Anwar, Sarmad Ghafoor, Yousaf Ramay, Zain Peerzada, Ali Suhail and Isa Najam. Produced by Sarmad Ghafoor and composed by Umair, the song, according to a press statement addresses “emotional abuse within a relationship” and “voices the unsaid, unheard dialogues that fade away in distress” before adding that it “is inspired from his [Umair Jaswal] personal experiences”.

The video starring Hira Tareen, directed by Yasir Jaswal, was shot in Islamabad and manages to carry the sentiment behind the moody song. But it’s really the music merged with Umair’s voice that tells you that both this song and the upcoming tracks from his solo album have potential. The sound is definitely different from his days in Qayaas and is much more refined even as guitar riffs emerge at certain moments. Umair also shows restraint with his voice, and Sarmad Ghafoor as producer has done a great job. If this is the sonic track Umair will be taking, his upcoming record will certainly be worth listening to.

Moving on, we finally have a video from Pepsi Pakistan that features Kashmir, the winners of Pepsi Battle of the Band 2017. The song is ‘Kaghaz Ka Jahaz’ that remains their finest tune to date and has been written about plenty of times so really right now it’s about the music video, which is purely performance-based. The band is on the stage with fans cheering them on. The six seem happy to be in front of the camera and in each other’s company and re-introduces them as a confident alternative rock group. It works.

This brings us to the ongoing third season of Cornetto Pop Rock and it has to be said that we do not need people eating ice cream cones in every video. It is pretty palpable that it’s a Cornetto-funded video and they must tone down product placement.

As for the rest of it, two singles from the season have been released; one is a song from Asim Azhar, a YouTube generation star who has crossed over to the mainstream, and the other is from Strings, making this their third music video of the year.

Asim Azhar’s ‘Dunya’ has already racked up more than two million views on YouTube so clearly there’s no stopping this young man. As for the Punjabi song, it’s for Asim Azhar fans even with the beats while the video, showcasing a girl dancing, first with one person, and another until Asim hands her a freaking ice cream cone. It gets mildy interesting only at the end when Asim starts to dance with the girl and looks good doing it. This isn’t the most original idea nor the most original spin of that idea.

The second video from Cornetto Pop Rock 3 features Strings unveiling the third song, ‘Piya Re’ from their new album, 30. Released in collaboration with Cornetto, the song is written by Anwar Maqsood and Bilal Maqsood and possesses that strong Strings signature and celebrates young love.

Sonically, it’s a safer song than its predecessor ‘Urr Jaoon’ but it’s sweet enough to find a spot on your iPod.

Unfortunately, the video featuring young people eating ice cream cones as they find love is too cheesy and way too repetitive. How many cones have been consumed in previous seasons? Strings, joined by band members Aahad Nayani, Adeel Ali, Haider Ali and Bradley D’Souza, rescue proceedings somewhat by their presence and the song itself which is sung by both Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood.

It is understandable for artists to team up with a corporate because funding is an issue for many but the creative core of Cornetto songs cannot come down to an ice cream cone. The end.