News from the Kitchen – What’s cooking in Pakistani Music Pot

News from the Kitchen – What’s cooking in Pakistani Music Pot
Too many cooks are NOT spoiling the broth!
– Ali Gohar

We have heard of numerous must-watch Pakistani movies hitting theaters in the near future but Pakistan Music lovers also have the right to know what’s going on and what’s next in the pipeline. So here is some spice of what’s up with your favorite artists and bands these days.

Jal:

So far Jal’s latest album Pyaas has done reasonably good in the market. This should be a big relief for all Jalaholics that the band is not over yet, in fact still doing great. ‘Dil Harri’ was a soulful song with a harmonious video which was released a couple of months ago.

These days the band is finalizing its next video which is due for release in the first week of September. The song is Pyaas; the title track of the album, and is being shot/directed by an emerging talent, Qasim Naeem, an NCA dude. Also they are making a (more) rock version of Aadat… hmmm… Didn’t you hear this first time?

Overload:

Overload celebrated their first decade of making music with a marvelous anthemic song “Jeet“. The song is directed by the leading man of the band Farhad Humayun himself who recently won Lux Style Award (LSA) as the Best Video Director. The lyrics are very powerful, penned down by Tahir Shaheer who also gave words to Overload’s previous venture “Ankahi” and is the script writer of the Dunya-TV fame, Hasb-e-Haal.

Call:

Everyone knows Call has found their new voice Yasir Jaswal. The first song and video with the new lineup will be out in the last quarter of this year. On a lighter note, the nucleus of the band Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan aka Xulfi has assured his fans that the video will not look like a drama or a bad attempt.

Other than Call, Xulfi is busy again with the other venture he produces; Nescafe Basement. Artists have been shortlisted, songs finalized, and the jamming is in the news. The broth is expected to be served in the last quarter of 2013 (as per the expected airing schedule).

Zaain ul Abideen:

After rather a successful release of the album Zeal in 2010, things have not gone too fast for Zain. However, the new song Lapata, from this jingles-and-voiceovers-fame talent is expected to be released any time while I finish writing these lines.

Lapata is very soulful and the teaser gives a feel of the audio very similar to Chuey Chuey – RJ Zaain’s biggest hit so far (and yes, he’s an RJ as well if someone missed it).

Ahmed Siddiq:

Winner of the Best Emerging Talent Award at LSA after his first release ‘Sher Khan’ became a hit. According to sources Sher Khan is the favorite song of the legendary guitar maestro Aamir Zaki as well. Ahmed Siddiq is in full swing these days. He is a big fan of Junoon and is working very hard on his debut album. His second video, ‘Burqa’ has finished its shooting and will be served to his fans in the next 30 days garnished with the album. Fayyaz Ahmed who directed Sher Khan is also doing this video.

Laal:

Laal is going to be the first Pakistani band to make a video about the need to heal the wounds of war and create friendship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The video is based on Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem “Gham Na Kar”. It is directed and produced by Ziad Zafar during Laal’s recent tour to Kabul (the band has been very busy with concerts). Soon after the video, the band will also release a Rockumentary of Laal’s trip to Afghanistan.

SYMT:

The talented Farhan–Haroon–Hassan spice laid down some tracks lately and is now shooting a new video soon. Hassan Omer is also busy working with various emerging artists who are apparently loving his sound.

Sami Khan (Lagan):

The Yaad Aaonga fame, Sami Khan recently released “Tham Lo”, which was produced by Xufi. He has now cooked Sami’s new song “So Ja” as well. The song, which is featured in the upcoming independent movie Swarangi, shall be released soon. It’s a slow track and according to sources close to Sami, three more songs are being featured in other independent movies hitting screens soon.

Jawad Ahmad:

Jawad Ahmad seems to be “kind of” back. This ‘O kendi Aey Saiyan’ dude recently released a video sponsored by a telecom company “Tum Hi Pakistan Ho” which again turned out to be very Jawad Ahmed style, in a good way. Things are not very clear about the other venture he is busy with. We heard about his forth coming album “Love and Revolution” produced by an Indian musician but then never heard much about it later. On the contrast, even Jawad is not sharing much about his music as well. May be he himself is not clear of ‘Bol tujay kia chahiay’… 😀

Bilal Khan

This heartthrob is certainly not over yet. His upcoming single “Dou Gharhee” is directed by none other than the super TV and film director Mehreen Jabbar. Do we require any more spices after this when the Mehreen Jabbar Tarka is already there?

Ali Khan

The ‘Saathiya’ boy seriously believes he has wasted much time and is very eager to hit back. There are talks going on of his older tracks to be featured in Bollywood. Recently he has joined a TV channel in its audio department and has done an OST, “Rang De” for a Turkish feature film which was released on the same channel with the name “Hajji”. He is about to release stuff one after the other now, most of which is sketched but yet to be recorded.

So this was what’s being cooked, a sneak peek from the kitchen. From now on, if you crave for more Pakistani music
and need to know what’s coming up, you know what URL to hit.