Smoke Signals

Dhruv and Ashu impress us once again — -this time, with the much awaited Smoke Signals.

Fusion music has become all the rage these days. But what most musicians don’t understand is the fact that having a tabla player in the band does not define ‘fusion’. It’s the synchronization of two completely different genres of music (In this case, Indian elements combined with their Western counterparts). However, veterans of the industry have managed to keep it together and retain ‘Fusion’. This is pretty evident in Dhruv Ghanekar and Ashutosh Phatak’s venture, titled ‘Smoke Signals’.

’ Windy ‘, the first track on the album starts off with a tinkling piano intro by Harmeet Manseta and breaks into a beautiful melody with a distinct sound of the tabla. Even though this one hasn’t any lyrics, Dhruv sings a melody that makes it a very calming track…almost serene.’ Yaad Tumhari ‘, on the other hand, has got a great Indian Classical melody accompanied by Shubha Joshi’s Hindustani Classical vocals. The song talks about two souls and how the woman considers a certain man to be an integral part of her being and how at every moment in her life, she remembers him. A cliched idea, though very beautifully put forth with Liaqat Ali Khan’s sarangi complementing the vocals really well.

This next one’s a pesonal favourite. A dedication to Lord Vishnu, the very creative duo have incorporated the famous Hindu shlok ‘Shanta Karam’ in ’ On and On ’ with Mahalaxmi Iyer’s very melodic, very classical vocals on the same. Lyrics are simple yet thought revoking making you question your beliefs and ideas about the Almighty, devotion, religion and all of it. You can further witness Dhruv and Ashu’s musical genius on this next song, ’ Tsunami ’ where the two of them rap out the lyrics — -totally hip-hop, the highlight of the song being the combination of Sriram Iyer’s Carnatic Violin and Dhruv’s western guitaring.

“Har pal jaata hai zindagi se..kyon na jeele khushi se”…for those of you who listen to Bollywood music or watch Channel ’ V ’ all day probably already know of this one! It’s the commercial track on Smoke. Kailash Kher belts out the Hindi lyrics on this one, in his very own, very typical ‘Allah ke Bandeh’ style — -in his very own ‘Kailash Kher’ style. I’m not a big fan of the song, though I must admit, the bridge and the song on the whole is EXTREMELY catchy. The versatility of the album is most evident in ’ You’re So Beautiful ’ where they’ve collaborated with old pal, Ravi ‘Rags’ Khote. He’s got a deep and at times in the track,raspy voice and at the cost of sounding shallow, I think the whole idea of singing in Bengali with a french accent is very sexy. It’s got the makings of a great jazz track with Braz Gonsalves on the soprano sax and a distinct jazz guitar riff. Moving on to ’ The Final Frontier ‘, it’s one of those tribal-prayer like songs with Dhruv singing in his mothertongue — -Marathi.Yet another interesting song. Another friend and another collaboration…’ Lullaby’ features Vivenne Pocha on vocals. For some strange reason, I had expected the album to have a lot of effects in the songs…Well, if not all…Lullaby’s definitely got ‘em ! ’ Summer Sun ‘, the last of the nine tracks has got a very optimistic vibe to it and a child-like simplicity on the whole beginning with a clean acoustic guitar riff. I’d term this a ” happy ” song.

Smoke Signals has got an eclectic mix of musicians and instruments with every track having a different sound so as to break away from the montony of other albums. If you’re not a genre-specific listener and are one those people that’ll listen to anything that sounds good to your ears — -this one’s a must-have! And even if you’re not one of those people, I’d still suggest you add this one to your collection…Simply put, it’s great music.

P.S : The album art is brilliant !