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Instep picks 5 songs that should be on everyone’s playlist.
Like the drama serial that became a much bigger hit than anyone (including the creators) had anticipated, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s title track for Meray Paas Tum Ho has done the same. Audiences may or may not agree with the ending of the serial but they have endorsed the song. The track has 28 million views on YouTube and that says a lot about its popularity, at home and abroad.
After PSL anthems from the likes of Ali Zafar and Fawad Khan, Pakistan Super League has gathered a group of artists for its latest anthem. The song ‘Tayyar Hain’ for the fifth edition of PSL has been trending since it released. Though comparisons to past singles have begun, there is something to be said to see various generations of musicians from Arif Lohar to Ali Azmat, Haroon and the young Asim Azhar together while Xulfi features on dhols. It’s loud, hopeful and sends the right message, that is, get ready (get in shape, boys).
The Sketches has released their third studio album, Saanjhi, as well as two original music videos: ‘Ishq Laga, Mann Jaga’ and ‘Faani Aur Baqa’. While we wholeheartedly endorse this entire record, the song ‘Ishq Laga, Mann Jaga’ is ahead of the game and is among Patari’s weekly top 20 charts.
Artist: Kashmir
Covering a song can be an art-form, and many artist(s) can’t do justice to the original, let alone give it a spin that becomes so memorable that it survives years. Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana covered ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ so well that when he appeared on MTV Unplugged in New York in 1994, a generation of fans attributed the song to the band. It was a song originally by David Bowie that was released in 1970 and was the title track of his third album. Several other artists have covered the song but no one has come close to the genuine heart Cobain brought to the song.
Decades later, a similar story has repeated with Kashmir’s cover of the late Aamir Zaki’s original hit, ‘Mera Pyar’. The soulful rendition, performed on season two of Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2017) is still doing well on the charts and the best of musicians admit that the cover by Kashmir is something else. The late Zaki would be proud.
Artist: Saakin
For a second year in a row, Saakin has released one of the best songs of the year. Their breakthrough number was of course ‘Saaki-E-Bawafa’ that released in 2018 and fetched them a Lux Style Award.
In the case of ‘Sik Mitraan’, it is on the original soundtrack of postponed film, Zindagi Tamasha. The song features Sufi poet Syed Mehar Ali Shah’s kalaam who was considered a rebel in his time. As Usman Shakeel - who co-sang the song - told Instep earlier, he composed this particular rendition with the rest of the members of Saakin having arranged the track with mixing and mastering by drummer/co-producer Ibrahim Akram. The outcome is a version that has picked up organic one million hits and has confirmed that Saakin is no one-hit-wonder band. Of course, given the song is for the film, it is within the context; the music video therefore features one of the lead characters within the film interspersed with the band performing against a window sill with gorgeous calligraphy. As Sufi songs go, this is a beautiful one.
– Maheen Sabeeh
