You can listen to the soundtrack at the end of the review.
Composer Nikhil J Menon (frontman of Kochi prog/alt rock band Counterclockwise) picks up one of his older songs (solo and not the band I believe, the versions I found online all featured just him on guitar) Where Gravity Fails, and in Nee-Na too it starts off like an unplugged performance, him on vocals and acoustic guitar for the entire first verse. The heavier elements (Ben Sam Jones on bass, Frederick M John on lead guitar) kick in then, and they lend themselves wonderfully to the wistful tune and lines (written by Nikhil himself). Frederick’s guitar solo and the drums (programmed by Sushin Shyam of The Down Troddence apparently; nifty job there) particularly stand out. The second song, also a pensive piece, comes in two versions – male version sung by Nikhil and female version by Shaktisree Gopalan. Both versions have the same tune basically, but the female version is the winner – Shaktisree does a better rendition, the arrangement has a more dreamy, more intimate sound; even some nice touches like that retro style crackle accompanying the humming at the start. The last track Then Nila happens to be the only Malayalam one (written by Venugopal Ramachandran Nair), and the relatively more upbeat song. Lovely tune and the arrangement sees a dominance of guitars again, but it is the violins that steal the show in the backdrop (just Cecil John Correya credited for violin, but I hear an entire strings section at times). Excellent singing by Sachin Warrier, no surprises there!
Nee-Na’s soundtrack is very unlike the music from any of director Lal Jose’s movies in the past. Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal with Prashant Pillai was probably an attempt to shift towards the indie sound, but here he takes it the full distance, with a winning result. And Malayalam movie industry gets another talented composer in Nikhil J Menon.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Top Recos: Just three songs, so not bothering with this.
Full artist credits, as supplied in the youtube description, below the jukebox.
Credits
1. I REMEMBER YOU (Female Version)
SINGER: Shakthisree Gopalan
MUSIC: Nikhil J Menon
LYRICS: Venugopal Ramachandran Nair
BASS: Ben Sam Jones
GUITAR: Nikhil J Menon
PROGRAMING & ARRANGEMENT: Palee Francis
PRODUCTION: Vivek Thomas Productions
STUDIO: Vocals – Krimson Avenues,Chennai {Sound Engineer: Sreesan G} Guitars – Vivek Thomas Productions, Ernakulam
MIXING: Vivek Thomas
MASTERING: Joe Laporta(Sterling Sound, New York, United States of America)
2. THEN NILA
SINGER: Sachin Warrier
MUSIC: Nikhil J Menon
LYRICS: Venugopal Ramachandran Nair
GUITAR and BASS: Sonu Prasad
VIOLIN: Cecil John Correya
PROGRAMING & ARRANGEMENT: Palee Francis
PRODUCTION: Vivek Thomas ProductionsMASTERING: Ermin Hamidovic (Systematic Productions, Australia)
STUDIO: Vocals- NHQ, Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam {Technician: Binil Eldhose} Acoustic Guitar- NHQ, Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam {Technician: Binil Eldhose} Violin – Soundscape Audio Factory, Ayappankavu, Ernakulam
3. WHERE GRAVITY FAILS
SINGER/MUSIC/LYRICS/RHYTHM GUITAR: Nikhil J Menon
LEAD GUITAR: Frederick M John
BASS GUITAR: Ben Sam Jones
PROGRAMING & ARRANGEMENT: Sushin Shyam Prakash
PRODUCTION: Vivek Thomas Productions
MASTERING: Ermin Hamidovic (Systematic Productions, Australia)
STUDIO: Vocals- NHQ, Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam {Technician: Binil Eldhose} Guitar/Lead and Bass- Vivek Thomas Productions, Ernakulam
4. I REMEMBER YOU (Male Version)
SINGER: Nikhil J Menon
MUSIC: NIikhil J Menon
LYRICS: Venugopal Ramachandran Nair
Guitars:Nikhil J Menon and Palee Francis
PROGRAMING & ARRANGEMENT: Palee Francis
PRODUCTION: Vivek Thomas Productions
MASTERING: Vivek Thomas Productions
STUDIO: Vocals- NHQ, Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam {Technician: Binil Eldhose}
