Music Briefs: Avane Srimannarayana, Good Newwz, Iddari Lokam Okate, Kolaambi, Mathu Vadalara, Neermathalam Poothakaalam, Sameer, Sanjhbati, Sillu Karuppatti & Thamezharasan

New music from Charan Raj, Mickey J. Meyer, Ramesh Narayan, Ilaiyaraaja, Tanishk Bagchi and more...

Good Newwz - Do me a favour and listen to the original version of Sauda Khara Khara, will you? Elsewhere, Tanishk Bagchi weaves a beautifully arranged acoustic melody in Maana Dil, sung to perfection B Praak, while Rochak Kohli ropes in American pop singer Lauv for Dil Na Jaaneya, a breezy tune propelled along by gentle trap-like beats and Mohit Dogra's guitars. A second unplugged version of the same song swaps Kohli's vocals for Arijit Singh, but remains just a pretty listen.

Thamezharasan - Sid Sriram sounds awkward delivering the folk-laced Thamizhanoda Veeramellaam, but that's the least of Thamezharasan's pitfalls. For the whole album — composed by Ilaiyaraaja — sounds like it's stuck in a time warp, the tunes mostly a rehash of his synth-coated melodies from the early 2000s. Still, there's no denying the innate charm of Yaavum Yaavumey and Paakkurappo Paakkurappo, particularly the latter with its dreamy orchestration and Neeti Mohan's singing.

Mathu Vadalara - Keeravani's son Kaala Bhairava, in his promising composing debut, crafts a wacky bunch of tunes — Saalaa Rey Saalaa and the title track — both of which lean heavy on rock influences, yet undercut by fidgety, intense rhythms and intriguing beats.

Iddari Lokam Okate - The movie came and sank without a trace, which is unfortunate because it's one of Mickey J. Meyer's better efforts in 2019. Some of it — You Are My Heart Beat, Ade Ooru — is a rehash of his earlier work, but in La La La La, he has an exquisite winner, which singer Sameera Bharadwaj handles with finesse. Hola Hola is another unalloyed delight, riding on an ear-pleasing soundscape that's borderline eargasm in Anurag Kulkarni and Aditi Bhavaraju's phenomenal singing.

Sillu Karuppatti - Pradeep Kumar composes and sings the beautiful, waltz'y Agam Thaanai alongside Susha and it's a keeper, carried along by the composer's textured sense of melody.

Sanjhbati - Anupam Roy may have been missing in action in Bollywood, but he continues to churn out great music in his homeland. Case in point is Khoma Koro, a heart-touching melody that he himself sings against a gentle soundbed comprising of ghatam (Somnath Roy), guitar (Rishabh Ray) and sarangi (Sarwar Hussain).

Avane Srimannarayana - Ajaneesh Loknath and Charan Raj take turns composing two songs — the former being a Arabic-influenced dance number Hands Up sung by Vijay Prakash and Shashank Sheshagiri, and the latter, a trendy new age bhajan Narayana Narayana in the voices of Anurag Kulkarni and Ananya Bhat, with solid purchase from Vishnu Vijay on the flute. An out and out off-piste outing that's equal parts engaging and quirky.

Kolaambi - This Ramesh Narayan-composed soundtrack is a stunner all the way, stacked with sparse, acoustic melodies — Aarodum Parayuka Vaiyya and Parayathae Arikil, both superlatively sung by his daughter Madhushree Narayan, and Ororo Novil, in Bombay Jayashri's stellar rendition — making it a lush, emotive and intricately arranged piece of music. Aanandakolayil, backed by phenomenal vocals from Shweta Mohan, offers a breezy contrast to the contemplative serenity that dominates the soundscape.

Neermathalam Poothakaalam - Another soundtrack that I missed in 2019, but what a lilting semi-classical melody Vennilavin Thaliralle is! Tuned by Sheron Roy Gomez, the reethigowla raga-based composition gains immensely from Haricharan Seshadri's pitch-perfect singing. Harisankar lends solid vocal backing to the dreamy Sangeeth Vijayan-tuned Anivagha Poothoren, but it's Haricharan who comes back a second time, this time with another composer Nahoom Abraham, for an utterly spellbinding melody Chenthamara Poovin. Gomez's Yaminiyaai is another standout, with Agam frontman Harish Sivaramakrishnan delivering the ethereal classical tune oh-so-beautifully.

Sameer - Sudeep Palanad's Jeevante Jeevanay is what would be the outcome if Mithoon's Maule Mere Maula was given a Malayalam makeover, but the delightfully euphonious melody is nonetheless pretty, elevated by Karthik and Sithara Krishnakumar's splendid vocals.

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