The trend of releasing a full length studio album may have slowed down, it has almost died a certain death when it comes to the top of the mainstream table. But Strings set the ball rolling again. Strings announced in December 2017, after their departure from Coke Studio, that they would be putting out a new record called 30 with each single accompanied by its own music video. So far, four of those songs have been released and they confirmed to Instep just this month that another four will be released by the year’s end.
They are not the only ones, it seems. Announcement for new studio records to be released has been made by a handful of artists but how many of them will actually deliver a new record and that too this year? It remains a mystery but for Umair Jaswal, the answer is in the affirmative, i.e. 2018.
Releasing his first solo album, the former Qayaas front-man who is best known for ‘Saami Meri Waar’ (from Coke Studio) has employed some of the best young musicians in the country to play on his record and who remain integral to the song writing process including Ali Suhail, Zain Peerzada, Yusuf Ramay and Isa Najam as well as pros of the game, Faraz Anwar and Sarmad Ghafoor, with the latter also holding forte as producer.
The first track, ‘Na Rahoon’ off this upcoming solo album, which is written and composed by Umair himself and draws from personal experiences, is about “emotional abuse within a relationship” and the “vicious cycle of a toxic relationship”. This remains an important theme to explore for any artist and it’s good to see Umair doing it; the song is backed by a music video directed by brother and director Yasir Jaswal.
Darker in tone than some of his peppy commercial releases, it paints a personal narrative for the artist, and makes us realize he has one.
Strings, who recently released the music video (and single) for ‘Mil Gaya’, and plan to put out a sixth studio album this year are impressed by the song.
“Umair Jaswal has made a good song,” noted Bilal Maqsood in an exclusive conversation with Instep as the subject veered towards original music. He’s doing a full-length record, I interjected.
Added Faisal Kapadia: “It’s a really nice song but at the same time more songs need to happen because you lose out [on the momentum] as there is so much happening in this world. It needs to happen like a bouquet.”
For Strings as well as Umair’s fans, the good news is that the ‘Charkha Nolakha’ singer, who has also tried his hand at acting with projects like Sarmad Khoosat’s Mor Mahal is following the Strings route and planning to put out more original singles and music videos, all scheduled to release this year.
