Danyal Zafar, by all accounts, from conversations with Coke Studio producers – when he made his Coke Studio debut via a duet called ‘Muntazir’ with Momina Mustehsan– to the sheer frequency with which he is releasing music to his many fans, the younger brother of Ali Zafar is making efforts to become his own musician with his own narrative.

The kind of music Danyal Zafar is making appeals to a certain demographic – the youth – but just as the internet is good at calling out inexplicable stuff as music or cultural appropriation, it is equally powerful in pointing out some degree of success.

An example includes Danyal Zafar, colloquially known as Danny Zee, rising in California Music Channel from #101 to #53 in two weeks. This playlist featured international artists like Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, Pitbull, Blake Shetlton, Justin Bieber and Sean Paul and many others.

Almost impervious to the landscape of music painted by Ali Zafar in his debut album with phenomenal songs like ‘Jugnu Se Bhaar Le Anchal’, ‘Chal Dil Meray’ and ‘Din Doobey’ as well as the mainstream hits, ‘Channo’ and ‘Rangeen’ with colorful videos (and problematic lyrics) nonetheless, Danny Zee seems to have crossed the rubicon with Blue Butterfly, his debut LP.

Though he has, over the time, released songs that echo brother Ali Zafar somewhat, it is Blue Butterfly that is Danyal Zafar’s coming out party as a musician.

The title track ‘Blue Butterfly’, with its racy music video, was the first release from the album and landed in hot waters with the Internet, in all probability because – maybe in an effort to register an individuality – ended up being a mess not just visually but sonically. In its effort to be a trippy love song, it ended up sounding naive with lyrics like, “And I would make love to you/High above the stars and the moon/Till I’m blind in love/‘Cause babe you’re my blue butterfly...”

Pakistan has some intelligent English songwriters and Blue Butterfly came across lyrically corny.

It wasn’t a strong opening but Danyal Zafar managed to improve things with the multi-genre ‘So Long, Goodbye’ that put him on California Music Charts and is quite stunning in parts. In particular, the parts where the qawwali moves in as the vocals note: “Tu mur ke na jaa veen hon sajna/Main teriyaan rawaan takdi phiraan/Main raj ke tenu hon taklaan/Tu mur ke na jaa veen hon sajna/Sajna tu na ja sajna/Tenu aj taklaan/Tere vich meri jaan/Tu na jaa/Sajna tu na ja sajna…” – it starts to create a narrative that eludes to a lover asking the beloved to stay. The song name is therefore an oxymoron.

The nearly 30 minute album also features several collaborations with artists such as MRKLE, Anna Salman and Maria Unera. But, it’s ‘It’s 6 AM (with MRKLE)’ that is the knockout song on the record. The slick production and unpredictable transitioning of songs, particularly this one, are signs that Danyal Zafar knows the kind of sonic landscape he wants; the overall production is good enough to be considered international.

The lyrical story is different. It paints the picture of young lovers, broken and alienated, falling into each other and falling apart. It is the departure of the beloved and the hurt that follows; a willing heart deteriorating before it ultimately embraces the loss and is open to changing and evolving. The effort is certainly there.

However, considering the recent emergence of young artists, Danyal Zafar needs to be vigilant. Should he choose to stick to English as his medium of communication, he needs to work harder on the lyrical content. Otherwise, his appeal will restrict him to tweens and not older listeners who would otherwise find the production on this album edgy enough to follow Danny Zee.

Blue Butterfly is Danyal Zafar’s debut album and with first records, mistakes are acceptable. The same doesn’t apply to sophomoric albums. If this is a break-up album, the lyrics need to reflect some combination of truisms. As a singer-songwriter and technical person (mixing, mastering, etc), it would be wise to remember that. Blue Butterfly is the result of several people collaborating, either on lyrics or as producer or technical wizards, with Danyal also contributing heavily but as they say too many cooks spoil the broth. In the future, it would be great to see a Danny Zee record that may not have been created in six months but shows a greater deal of maturity in terms of verse and production.

Since making his debut album, Danyal has also released songs like ‘Akhiyaan’ (asking fans what break-ups meant to them and writing a track based on their answers), as well as ‘Udh Chaliye’ with different sonic direction with the latter falling on the soothing side but not cutting edge. But a little less time releasing music and more time spent tweaking these potential hits could change the game for Danny Zee. And whether he is aiming for hits or pushing the envelope remains to be seen.