In the Behind-The-Scenes video an artist described singer Sanam Marvi as possessing a true and honest voice coming straight from the mitti of the Pakistani land. And the song Pritam with which Sanam Marvi opened Episode 3 (Conception) in every way justified this description. A Rajasthani style folk tune belonging to the league of such songs as Yaara Sili Sili, Sanam Marvi delivered Pritam in a manner that would make it hard for you to stop listening to it! Especially brilliant was the 2 minute long alaap ending in a soaring crescendo! And with a simple yet effective arrangement Rohail Hyatt provides excellent background. Meesha Shafi, who accompanied Arif Lohar in Episode 1, did her solo next with Wey Main Chori Chori, another Rajasthani folk tune and the original of Yaara Sili Sili, actually rendered by legendary folk singer Reshma. Meesha has got a good voice, but rendition-wise she didn’t quite match up with Reshma. But it still makes for a good listen for its beautiful orchestration, the mellowed-down trance-ish effect working wonders.
Tina Sani entered with a semiclassical track titled Mori Araj Suno (Raag Desh I believe). Towards the end of the song she was joined by Arieb Azhar with a recitation like he did to open this season. While I loved Tina Sani’s singing, traversing the classical nuances with practised ease, I didn’t find the song on the whole that engaging. The song seemed to be lacking something somewhere. After Karavan and Entity Paradigm, the staple rock band lineup for Episode 3 was the amusingly named Aunty Disco Project. Fortunately they didn’t go their predessors’ way, instead producing a pretty engaging track in the form of Sultanat. Especially liked the Arabic flavoured guitar solo in the second interlude. That said, I did get reminded of Euphoria‘s Dhoom on hearing the starting lines of Sultanat! Abida Parveen made her second appearance this season to close the third episode, with Nigaah-e-Darwaishaan which featured lines by poets like Bulleh Shah, Sachal Sarmast and Baba Farid. The song is close to 10 minute long, but even if it were much more than that you would hardly notice as you let the magic of Abida Parveen’s singing wash over you. Whatte voice!
Two songs not quite upto the mark, but the remaining three are enough to make your day. You can download the audio/video here.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Recommended Tracks: Pritam, Nigaah-e-Darwaishaan, Sultanat
Music Review – Coke Studio Season 3 Episode 3
