The Sketches ft Gumby, Faraz Anwar & Jono – Main Sufi Hoon (Single Review)

By Hasan Faridi

It was the year 2003 when Saif and Naeem decided to step into the world of music to create a band named The Sketches that would bring people together through folk and Sufi music.

The Sketches released their debut album back in February 2010 by the name of “Dastkari”, and since then, they’ve come a long way these past two years (even having more than 70,000 fans on Facebook).

“What we eventually created was a little different; our individuality is the developed taste of Sufi and pop, a merger of East and West,” say the band.

Fair to say, they’ve done it in their new release called “Main Sufi Hoon” (“I Am A Sufi”), collaborating with Pakistani guitar virtuoso Faraz Anwar, renowned drummer Gumby and prolific American singer/songwriter Jono Manson.

The collaboration with Jono in itself combines Eastern and Western musical styles and influences.

Nevertheless, the track is an eloquent number, and it doesn’t take long till the listener is sucked in to a mystical world of soothing sounds.

Saif Samejo, vocalist of The Sketches, does a great job at singing his poetic verses encapturing the works of the famous Sufi poets Sachal Sarmast and Bulleh Shah. When he sings the chorus, it automatically becomes the highlight of the song, because it’s catchy and easy to sing along to.

When we found out that a guitar virtuoso would be joining the band for “Main Sufi Hoon”, it got a lot of attention. The guitarist of The Sketches, Naeem Shah, took a step back into rhythms as Pakistani guitar Faraz Anwar took the leads.

Both their guitar work blends together with the track well. There are some distorted riffs here and there, yet the composition still brings the mellow sound at the front. Faraz doesn’t do his fancy finger-work as we might expect him to do in this number, but then again, this isn’t Guitar Idol.

As he does in Coke Studio, Gumby does what he does best. What more can be said?

All in all, “Main Sufi Hoon” is an elegant track that was mixed to perfection and tries to reflect the message of Sufism, poetry and peace.

With the media always picking up on cases of extremism in Pakistan, this song reflects upon a beautiful yet tranquil side that is often hidden from view.