You can listen to the songs on Saavn. Music credits at the end.
Yela La La is identifiable as a Gopi Sunder creation right from the opening notes. And I don’t know if it just me, but the Yela La La seems to appear sooner than I expect it to, every time. Despite these, the song still is quite enjoyable – the melody is a really hummable one and Sumesh Parameswar is in fine form with the plucked strings in the backdrop. And despite the processing in his voice, Madhav Nair’s rendition works – really liked the drawl in his voice. Contributing the second song to Hey Jude’s western soundscape is Rahul Raj. In fact, in this multi-composer soundtrack, director Shyamaprasad brings together four music directors who have worked with him at different points – Gopi (Ivide), Rahul (Rithu), M Jayachandran (Akale) and Ouseppechan (the national award winning Ore Kadal, and Arike) – seemingly apportioning the songs in the same ratio as the number of movies he has worked with them on! Coming back to Rahul’s song, Hey Don’t Worry Jude is a groovy track delivered well by Kavya Ajit (supported by the composer himself). The “breathe easily” phrase that follows the titular line sounds weird.
M Jayachandran composes Nisha Shalabhame that sounds its best during its minimal, ambient segments where the melody and Shaktisree Gopalan take centre-stage. Once the other electronic elements kick in, the song loses its allure. Great singing by Shaktisree throughout though. I was wary about Ouseppachan’s Rock Rock given its title, but it turned out to be a quite a fun retro-style rock and roll piece. While Sayanora Philip sounds her vibrant best behind the mic (Shyamaprasad himself writes the lines for this one), the instrumentalists do an equally commendable job on their part (always a sucker for the double bass, and this one sees some ace guitar playing too). Ouseppachan’s other song, Meenukal Vannupoy, is the album’s best. Going at a leisurely pace for just over half its length with Amal Antony singing the lines in a minimal setting, the song takes a surprisingly wonderful turn post that with the harmonies kicking in. Rest of the song has Amal Antony repeating the lines alongside Sayanora Philip with the acappella backing. While the harmonies have been really nicely done, it also reminded me occasionally of the opening harmonies in this Carol of the Bells cover by Pentatonix.
Five songs, with four different composers and five different lyricists. Not the kind of formula that works often, but Hey Jude manages to beat the odds. But then Shyamaprasad has been fairly consistent with his movies’ musical quality.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Meenukal Vannupoy, Yela La La, Rock Rock
Musician Credits
Song: Yela La La
Singer: Madhav Nair
Lyrics: Harinarayanan BK
Music: Gopi Sunder
Arranged & Programmed by: Gopi Sunder
Additional Programming: Anoop Nirichan
Guitars, Mandolin & Bass: Sumesh Parameswar
Backing Vocals: Niranj Suresh, Abhaya Hiranmayi, Gopi Sunder
Music Production Manager: Babu V.K.
Recorded @ Sunsa Digital Workstation, Chennai & Cochin
Engineered by: Midhun Anand, Krishnalal BS, Nikhil Mathews, Gopi Sunder
Mixed & Mastered by: Midhun Anand @ Sunsa Digital Workstation, Chennai & Cochin
Song: Hey Don’t Worry Jude
Singer: Kavya Ajit, Rahul Raj
Lyrics: Vinayak Sasikumar
Music: Rahul Raj
Song: Nisha Shalabhame
Singer: Shaktisree Gopalan
Lyrics: Prabha Varma
Music: M Jayachandran
Song: Meenukal Vannupoy
Singer: Amal Antony, Sayanora Philip
Lyrics: Dr. Madhu Vasudevan
Music: Ouseppachan
Song: Rock Rock
Singer: Sayanora Philip
Lyrics: Shyamaprasad
Music: Ouseppachan
