Music Review: Cuckoo (Tamil)

Composer(s): Santhosh Narayanan
Listen to the songs online here: Saavn

With a haunting minimalist orchestration, Manasula Soora Kaathey is alluring and in RR and Divya Ramani's splendid vocals, it transports you back to Ilaiyaraaja's melodies of the 80's and 90's. Santhosh Narayanan's staples Pradeep Kumar and Kalyani Nair are outstanding in the mesmerizing Agasatha that's every bit distinctively Santhosh - be it the arrangements or the wonderfully layered violins in the background, the song is just fantastic. RR hits all the right notes with his spotless singing in the immensely symphonic folk track Potta Pulla, the flute and ghatam laden soundscape being no less interesting.

Kodayila is Vaikom Vijayalakshmi's show all the way, and accompanied by Pradeep Kumar and Kalyani Nair on the vocals, the track's enticing arrangements complement the song beautifully. The folksy heartbreak song Kalyanamam Kalyanam is an interesting mix of thavil, udukai and nadaswaram and singers Andony Dasan and Hema lend pitch-perfect vocal support. Gaana Bala, again a Santhosh regular, gets yet another unconventional jazzy song to croon in Enda Mapla and he delivers it in his inimitable style. Cuckoo sees Santhosh Narayanan in top form, and if I may add, one of his best!

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