Jhol – Nasha (KM Single Review)
Some time back I had a chance to listen to a song named Nasha by a local underground band somewhere on radio if my memory serves me well. The band’s name was Jhol and I instantly found their sound catchy and something that could remain in your head for some time. And then recently I got to hear that they are coming up with a video which was said to be something that was never made before in Pakistan. Although I don’t get much time to listen to underground bands but this was something that I specially took out time to watch and I must say that they didn’t disappoint me.
Jhol was formed back in 2010 when couple of like-minded kids got together to pursue their common dream of music. It was the mixture of funk/rock that was going to be their identity. Jhol started with Rohail Lashari and Jahanzeb Sukhera on Guitars and were later joined by Imran Iqbal on vocals.
Their latest single Nasha has got a very mellower and acoustic feel to it with some powerful vocals by Imran that can make you hum it along. This is one of those songs that fully displays all the elements and dimensions of the band which in this case is very important for a band like Jhol who are just making an entry in to the industry. The mixing and mastering of this crisp track has been done by Saad Sultan at Sidereel studios.
The video of Jhol has been directed by a very artistic director, Abdullah Haris who surely does full justice to the composition of the song. I must confess here that one of the biggest reasons of specially watching this video was the director himself because this guy is known for some very unique and artistic work which is pretty evident in this song and video as well. However, Abdullah seemed to be very humble about his art and creativity when he elaborates the concept of video in pretty straight forward words.
“…that was such a pure thought. Thing is, if you stop trying really hard to understand ‘a’ concept, you are likely to understand how simple of a concept it is.”
But there is definitely a story line about the elements of revenge in a relationship. Interestingly this comes with a tag of “not suitable for minors” with some intimate scenes trying to give the feel of the lyrics. The video is divided into 3 chapters: Unconditional Notion, the sacrifice, and belonging. The most revengeful scene that stands apart from rest of the video is when the girl rips out the heart of the guy and grinds it. Abdullah Haris has earlier done some real quality work. He has worked on the music videos of Bol and also directed Bilal Khan’s ‘Kabhi Gham Na Aye‘ apart from doing a lot of other advertising campaigns for various multinationals. But perhaps his most notable work till date was the video direction for Ali Zafar’s re-defining ‘Jee Dhoondta Hai‘ that won him a lot of critical acclaim.
And this Nasha’s video is equally open and good in a way that anyone can have a visualization of their own about the video. This can go either way. The lyrics of the song are just as good and effortlessly deliver the message and thought process behind the track.
Seeing the recent sad state of the music, it comes as a big surprise to see a minnow like Jhol investing so much in their video and believing in the visual arts. The song overall has got very positive reviews from fans since its release. Best of luck to all three guys and hope that they continue their ascent towards a brighter future.
