The last music group to win Pepsi Battle of the Bands dropped their final music video ‘Duhrao’ in late 2019. But instead of a swift follow-up, two years went by instead.

Since then, the four-member group left fans wondering if an album was in the offing or not. However, their new single ‘Nawazish’ is the surge fans and the band had been looking for. The song, Auj confirmed, is from their much-awaited album post-Pepsi Battle of the Bands and it will release this year.

Given their musical trajectory and original hits in PBOTB such as ‘Lafz’, ‘Raat’ and ‘Aansu’, it will be interesting to see the narrative Auj present.

As for ‘Nawazish’, this is a stronger song and music video than ‘Duhrao’. With vocals and lyrics by Abdur Rahman, bass by Hasnain Ali, drums by Muhammad Kashif and guitars, arrangement and composition by Nasir Zaka, the music video is directed by Jalal.

Not following the sound that they followed in PBOTB necessarily, ‘Nawazish’ is a bit of a sonic surprise and leans towards post-rock while the music video is partially performance-based and partially narrates a story that is both subliminal and needs a couple of views to be fully understood in the context it has been made. Props to the band for playing around with its image that was close to bordering on being labelled a certain kind of band. With ‘Nawazish’ Auj has defied expectations. It’s a pretty good song as well; endorsed as must-listen.

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Sunny Khan Durrani releases ‘Taaray’

If there is one artist who is always releasing original music, playing with languages while doing so, and is very hard to keep up with, it’s Sunny Khan Durrani.

From the days of Patari project ‘Log Kya Kahenge’ that introduced him to a larger audience to 2021, Sunny hasn’t slowed down.

With multiple albums and music videos to his credit, it would be unfair to not cover his latest music video titled ‘Taaray’.

Though Sunny can rap in English, Urdu, Pushto and Punjabi, ‘Taaray’ is entirely in Urdu making it more accessible than previous releases. It elevates his status to one of the country’s most dynamic and honest rappers.

The ‘Taaray’ music video, we know, even before viewing it, is that it will be intriguing given direction has been helmed by the underrated Awais A. Khan.

Upon viewing the sharp music video, and listening to the visceral rap, you can’t help but go back to Sunny’s words that accompanied the music video below credits: “If there was no darkness/Will the stars still matter to you?”

It’s a thought-provoking analogy that can be applied to many circumstances - particularly this music video.

Aware about this country’s problems and the cracks within, it depicts a story that is reflective of how the fabric of society has deteriorated. There is no effort to hide it - through audio and video, poetic lyricism and matching aesthetics. We think it’s worth listening to so give it a couple of listening sessions even if rap is not your choice of genre.

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OCL launches third EP called Munkashif

OCL, the artist formerly known as Osama Com Laude, known for hits like ‘Desi Thumka’ and ‘Pindi Aye‘ has grown with each of his releases. After a series of singles, the 30-something rapper promised to release a trilogy of EPs.

To that end, he released an EP called paKING (comprising songs such as ‘paKING’, ‘Overdose’, ‘3-Peat’, ‘Vehshi’) and another EP called Barbaadi. Collaborating with a number of artists in various capacities on paKING and the second EP Barbaadi (featuring songs such as ‘Azm’, ‘Bar God’,‘Barbaadi’), the third EP never arrived - until now.

OCL is dropping his third EP in the trilogy called Munkashif, finally. More importantly, he plans to drop the five-song EP within the next few days.

The EP features 5 songs and OCL revealed to Instep that a short film has been made with all tracks interwoven in it. He’s going raw for this project which includes a raw look, literally. OCL admitted that he’s not looking to pander to people. In other words, this EP is easily his most ambitious and experimental effort. At least two songs from the EP and the short film have released - with more coming in the near future. Watch out!

Rating system: *Not on your life * ½ If you really must waste your time ** Hardly worth the bother ** ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only
*** Good enough for a look see *** ½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection