Mathil Mel Poonai features the music of Ganesh Raghavendra who made a splendid debut with the soundtrack for ‘Renigunta’. The album has 5 songs and attempts to capture the various moods of the story.

Manasa Thirudiya...
Singer: Tippu
Lyric: Karunakaran
The album opens to the delightful voice of Tippu for a light and melodious song. The acoustic guitar over Indian percussions with lovely bits of piano thrown into the mix makes it for very pleasant listening. The vocal overdubs are a nice touch too. The words of Karunakaran are slightly clichéd yet charming.

Vandharai Vazhavaikum...  
Singer: Simbu
Lyric: Ansar Abbas
The song that is unoffically christened ‘Chennai Anthem’ is already a raging hit with the youth. This is not the first time STR has lent his voice for Ganesh Raghavendra but the young man absolutely nails it in this outing. He resounds the perfect attitude that this song strives to achieve. Ansar Abbas’s words don’t try to be too clever, instead it stays colloquial and rooted with the present. Musically this song has an infectious groove that you can’t help tapping your feet or bobbing your head to!

Oru Poo Pookiradhu...
Singer: Harish Raghavendra, Harini
Lyric: Yugabharathi
This track carries an unmistakable resemblance to some of Harris Jayraj’s popular songs. The song’s structure, instrumentation and production reaffirm the similarities. Still, it’s got some very nice melodies that are delivered excellently by Harini and Harish Raghavendra. Yugabharathi’s lyrics are sweet without being overtly poetic.

Irulai Katti Vai...
Singer: Lawrence, Abhilasha
Lyric: Velmurugan
This track marks the first of the two ‘darker’ songs on the album. The intro chant and Abilash-Lawrence’s high range create a mood of desperation and tension. The rap bit is nice and aggressive and succeeds in its intentions and Thamarai’s words add fury to the mix.

Rathathin Nuraraiya...
Singer: TL. Maharajan, Sathyan
Lyric: Thamarai
The last track of the album is dark, pulsating and displays contrasting styles in mood and music. One feels the audience will comprehend this track better with the visuals and does not make for a good stand-alone number. While Satyan performs this song with a punch it’s T.L. Maharajan who wins with the better moments of this song in a short but powerful vocal performance.

Verdict: All in all, there is hardly a bad song on the album considering that some of the tracks are composed keeping in mind the demands of the script. The album is well mixed and has some very beautiful vocal performances in the melodious songs. The one big takeaway of course will be the ‘Chennai Anthem’.