Kailasa - Chaandan Mein Review

[Konfucious / Karthik]

The tantalising trio of Kailash Kher, Naresh and Paresh Kamath are back with their third offering Chaandan Mein (which means over the moon ). Their previous offerings, both Kailasa and Jhoomo Re have set the bar pretty high for the trio, but this album does very well to match that though i doubt if it betters it. They have enjoyed success through some really great tracks like the emotional Teri Deewani, the bouncy Tauba Tauba in Kailasa to the euphoric Babam Bam and the soulful Saiyaan and also the very catchy title track Jhoomo Re.

Chaandan Mein starts off with the title track, the video of which is already doing rounds on most music channels. It is a very sober and touching song and it probably lays the foundation for a more mellow experience as we progress through the songs.

Kailasa's USP is clearly their sound, very unique yet rustic, made up of 2 factors; Kailash Kher's earthy vocals and the instrumentation. They have used a variety of sounds to also give a different feel every track (rock - Teri yaad, qawwali - Albela Saajan to name a couple). Also using elements like flute, veena, santoor, sitar or the powerful bass lines in Bheeg gaya mann make it an acoustic treat . Its is this juxtapostion of Indian and western sounds which makes their sound so unique.

There is always this habit among bands to follow a standard blueprint from a previous successful album. Fortunately Kailasa haven't done that. The tracks to watch out are Na Dhin Dhin, Rang Rang Ma (very addictive) and I personally loved Teri Yaad a lot.

Overall it is a great listening experience though the sound is much more mature and introspective. The lyrics pertain to love, pain or the soul itself; which is sort of their signature style but this time most tracks (all except Albela Saajan if I'm correct) are in a male perspective unlike some of their previous work (something which a lot of people found weird the first time ) . The album ends with Tere Naina which is a track from Jhoomo Re, which I think was included just to make up the numbers. I feel they should have added a live version of one of their previous hits instead.

A great buy (if you still buy music) otherwise its still worth listening if you liked their earlier albums.


PEACE

[Konfucious / Karthik]

wokay....dats neat...

[Satish S]

Check out Kailash Kher's interview in the 15th July issue of JAM.
We met him this Thursday.