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'Dear Zindagi' Music Review: Just Press Play

Arijit Singh brings a rare freshness that instantly brings to mind the verve and sass Kishore Kumar brought to all his songs.

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Dear Zindagi, Sony Music

Music: Amit Trivedi

Lyrics: Kausar MunirPrice: 175

Rating: ***1/2

1. Love You ZIndagi: Lyrics can make or break a song. But I have a feeling this one could have done without. Richly layered, this could probably be one of the best title tracks you’ll year this year. The heft of Darshan Doshi’s drums, the lightness of a diverse string section (guitar, banjo, mandolin, rabab and bouzouki are listed, played by Tapas Roy), a brilliant wind section (Kishore Sodha is most recognisable on trumpet, it’s the clarinet that follows suit, followed by light flute sections by Inapakurti D Rao) are the pillars of this rather elaborate track. But her cutesy folk pop vocals are so at odds with the rest of this composition, you wonder what point Amit was trying to make by casting her for this track.

2. Tu Hi Hai: Arijit Singh brings a rare freshness that instantly brings to mind the verve and sass Kishore Kumar brought to all his songs. Soft rock elements abound. And those beautiful mid-eastern and Mediterranean stringed instruments! Over too soon!

3. Tareefon Se: The track that tells you instantly why Arijit Singh is the go-to singer for literally any kind of track these days. Amit makes the best use of Arijit’s vocals here, better than anyone has this year, Pritam included! Loved everything he does here on this jazz-obsessed track, the scat singing included. He’s so at home here, you’ll believe he can do anything he puts his voice to. Inapakurti on saxophone is a revelation here. Kausar’s lyrics are on point. Everything comes together.

4. Let’s Break Up: Amit resurrects the 80s with this disco-heavy synth-vibey track, fronted by Vishal Dadlani. Though we have to ask, those first few seconds had me instantly thinking of Sachin Jigar’s G Phaad Ke. But that moment passed. As breakup songs go, it’s the antithesis of the sentiment. And we’re guessing the antidote to a broken, hurting heart. It has its moments, though not remarkable enough to make me write more about it.

5. Just Go To Hell Dil: Darshan Doshi on drums and Jitendra H Thakur on violin ably back up Sunidhi Chauhan, who starts out like she’s going to be India’s answer to Celine Dion before unleashing her inner Cher and revving into Tina Turner territory ending on a Florence Welch note. If you didn’t feel like headbanging before, it’s time to start now, while wiping those tears back. Just what the doctor ordered for bringing on the tears. Awesome stuff.

6. Love You Zindagi Club Mix: Vineeth Jay’s production and arrangement takes a piss on the original track with this sped-up version, which is here for no apparent reason. Unnecessary, noisy and a somewhat pitchy rendition by Alia Bhatt. What was Amit thinking with this one?

7. Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le Take 1: Building on Ilaiyaraja’s classic and offering a new spin is a somewhat tall ask. But Amit’s team is up for the challenge. The urgency is evident. Warren Mendonsa takes charge out the door on guitars and arrangement, Jai Row Kavi is most notable on drums, followed by Ardeshir Mistry just killing it on bass guitar. But without Arijit here, this would be incomplete. He’s the soul of the piece.

8. Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le Take 2: Starts out all chillstep. Moves on to trap. Then bass. Somewhat like glitch-hop, then dubstep. Somewhere down the line it feels like Tamil EDM (wrap your head around that, half expecting Benny Dayal to belt out something) All the while an auto-tuned Alia Bhatt ruins a classic. I love her voice otherwise, but if you want to know how to crash and burn an Ilaiyaraja track, take lessons from Vineeth and Amit on these tracks.

VERDICT: Despite the lapses in judgment (who needs club mixes and Take 2s?), Amit Trivedi has put out a solid OST, with Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan as the musical heroes. A strong instrumental setup is what makes this album what it is… a winner just short of a clear victory.

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