HANDPICKED LIST OF SOME OF THE BEST TAMIL SONGS - DECEMBER 2021! TAKE A LOOK!

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Don’t break my heart

RR Dhruvan is proof that the south Indie music industry and Telugu specifically is thriving and spreading its wings wider. I have featured him a few times and I am not at all surprised by the quality that emerges from him. Aditi Bhavaraju is a stunning singer and it is a heavily competitive space. The keys and her vocals drive the song forward with all the programming done by Achu Rajamani. The lyrics are written by Rakendu Mouli in Tamil. Sabin Suma Jose has mixed and mastered the track. The Piano is aided by bass-lines, rhythms and well-arranged harmonies. The solo violin in the front, and strings in the background have a scintillating interlude. This even continues into the stanza dominated by Aditi’s vocals. Aditi’s high-pitched singing and the way she emotes every word is worth listening to on loop multiple times. It is stunning how perfect her diction is in Tamil, being a Telugu singer, and it is a lesson for many budding singers.

Ennai aalum pennilave

Gopi Sundar is the master of melody and I am glad that his horizon has expanded from just Mollywood into Tollywood and Kollywood. This video stars Bigg Boss Tamil Season 3 winner Mugen Rao from Malaysia and more importantly it has the powerhouse vocals of Pradeep Kumar. The song is an enchanting melody straight out of the 1990s Tamil cinema, with a great set of live instruments as well. The acoustic and bass guitars are definitely playing a role here along with . The stanza is short and simple but it hits the right notes. The keys and strings dominate the second interlude along with the beautiful humming by Priyanka NK. She performs in the second verse. Gopi has arranged, composed and programmed the track, with Midhun Anand mixing and mastering the track. Uma Devi is the lyricist.

Ivalai Polae

M.S.Jones Rupert is a music producer, composer and Pianist who has been very busy and consistent with some good compositions in 2020 and 2021, and he continues in that trajectory here. He composes this and ropes in Priyanka NK to do the vocals and Navin B beautifully pens the words. The music video is excellently directed as well by Common Man Sathish but the choreography and presence of Akshitha Ravindran steals the show. Jones and Priyanka perform the vocals in harmony and look out for the Violin interlude which adds to the grandeur. There are elements of either Karaharapriya or Reethigowlai in the track. The flute and stynths become two more important elementary sounds in the track

Kanda Kanavu

Anand Kashinath has been creating some very enjoyable singles in Tamil, and I also have been featuring them from time to time and here he combines with another usual suspect in Sublahshini to compose a very likable and loop-worthy number. The duo have composed this second single from “In my vazhkai” and thanks to her mesmerizing vocals, this one is an instant humdinger. Sajin Stanly has mixed and Joshua Daniel has mastered the track. The thavil gets introduced into the song and it reminds us of “Kathalikkum Pennin” by AR Rahman. The trumpets are a good addition to the mix of things in the interlude and keeps the fun and frolic high.

Maayaavi

This is another love song dedicated to lovers during the pandemic and the struggles they went through. Ashwin PM directs the video but more importantly Abu Thahir composes the tune. A very delightful melody which grows on you even stronger thanks to the vocalists Santhosh Balaji and Aishwarya Ravichandran. Keba Jeremiah’s guitars enhance the melody, and Karthik Vamsi gets the rhythms spot on through his drums and percussion. Abin Pushpakaran has mixed and mastered the track with mix assistance from Thooyavan. Lokesh and Avinash Satish are the recording engineers. Sowndharya K handles the make-up and Leela Jennifer works on costumes. If you pay attention the melody draws some parallels to “Anarkali” by AR Rahman from the movie ‘Kangalal Kaidhu Sei’.

Mother Song

A song from an Ajith movie is always eagerly expected from fans and it immediately becomes a super hit irrespective of its melody or emotional connect. This time I myself thoroughly enjoyed the number and even though we have a plethora of “mother-son sentiment” songs in Tamil, this one can be definitely added to the list that makes an impact. Sid Sriram becomes an obvious choice right now in Kollywod for lullabies like this and he keeps the vocals solid without overdoing any of the aalaps. Vignesh Shivn is increasingly making a name for himself and a trusted and dependable lyricist and this is another feather in his cap. Yuvan composes and arranged this beauty, and once again it is Keba Jeremiah’s silken fingers on acoustic, electric and bass guitars that drive the track in to another orbital. KJ Vijay plays the flute in the interlude and M Kumaraguruparan records, mixes and masters the track

Patchai

Priya Mali has been around singing for various composers and she has been featured quite often. This time it is her own composition and she sigs with such finesse that you immediately fall in love. Lyrics are penned by ADK, and after that ravishing humming which tells me that is probably some “Karaharapriya” raaga influence. Listen to that splendid solo on the electric violin by Nataraj and Napier Naveen Kumar is on the bass guitars. The track is mixed by Sujith Hyder and mastered by Suesh Permal. All additional programming is by Vijay LJ, with recording by Vimal John and Lokesh Vijaya. There are also hints of “Nataikurunji” in the interludes. The Nadaswaram and flute also have been effectively and generously used through the track

Poonja Kannazhagi

This is a song that will stand the test of time. Yes I mean that, and this straight away jumps to become one of the best Tamil and Indian songs of 2021 according to me. Biju Sam has composed this stunner and also produced and arranged the live instruments. There are two talented singers who made a name for themselves at the latest Super Singer show on Star Vijay viz. Adithya R.K. and Reshma Shyam. Dhamayanthi is the lyricist responsible for writing these beautiful words. Gustavo Eiriz is just masterful on the acoustic guitar romanticizing the whole track and taking you back to your school days where you first fell in love. The string section reverberates in your ears and it feels like something out of a symphony. They are played by the Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Oleg Kondratenko and orchestrated by Srikanth Krishna. Biju himself plays the bass guitars and the track’s engineers are Jerbaraj on recording, Ishit Kuberkar on mixing and Christian Wright on mastering. Just listen to the interludes and background instrumentals like whistles, and strings and you will stand up in ovation appreciating Biju Sam. There are fragments of songs like “Love Polladhadhu” by Sean Roldan somewhere in between, but nothing can take away credits from Biju Sam for this breathtaking number. If Adithya teases you, then Reshma mesmerizes you.

Raegaigal

Justin Prabhakar is right in the middle of a phenomenal purple patch I must say. A year or so ago he was just making inroads into Tamil and Telugu cinema, but now has composed for a Netflix Hindi movie “Meenakshi Sundareshwar” and now a Pan India film called “Radhe Shyam”. Sathyaprakash is the lead vocalist and there is a massive team of backing vocalists that includes Sam P Keerthan, Yogi Sekar, Shibi Srinivasan, Sugandh Shekar, and Pavan. The interludes are laden with the Saxophone by MSV Raja and Acoustic guitars by Arun Chiluveru. The live drums by Suresh Peters and bass guitars by Naveen Napier enhance the groove and funk quotient of the song. The additional keys are played by Anurag Saikia, Sebastian Satish, Bharath Dhanasekar C and Dishon Prince. The track is mixed by Balu Thankachan with Hariharan assisting, while Shadab Rayeen has mastered the track.

Sadhikaariye

It’s a return to composition for Diwacara Thiyagarajan after more than a year, and I have been looking forward to this. He does make a stylish return with Anand Aravindakshan and Sanjana Kalmanje playing lead vocalists. The sounds are really fresh and the guitar strokes provide much needed cheer played by Vijay Ganesan. It is not just the pallavi but the charanam as well that sound very hummable with Sanjana and Anand complimenting each other. The lines “Kanaa Kanaa nee thanadi” are just wonderful and sung with oomph by Anand. Mohan Rajan writes the lyrics, and Shibi Srinivasan has given additional vocals’ performance and arrangements for the same. The track is produced and mixed by Vinod Ravi Sundar, with mastering by Rupendar Venkatesh and Divine Joseph, Kashyap, Shivanesh and Lijesh as recording engineers.

Tappasu Neram

Karthik is silently traversing into greater heights without anyone’s notice as a composer par excellence. So far it is only GVM who is offering him opportunities which is a little sad, considering Karthik is creative, like the way he did with “Guitar Kambi Mel nindru” and solid in some of the Ondraga Originals. Anyway in this new movie featuring Varun from Bigg Boss 5, the song created waves when it was played as a morning song a few weeks ago, and now the more you hear it, the more you fall in love with it. Karthik composed, produced and arranged the track, sung by this phenomenal teen called Krishna K. The other lead vocalist is the famous Gana Guna who is well known in Kollywood, and we have some unbridled talent like Amrit Ramnath, Malavika Shankar and Manisha S as backing vocalists. Vivek is the lyricist, all the additional programming is by Ashok Sridharan, Balaji Gopinath and Sakkthivel. The vocals dominate the song with some interesting support from Keys and rhythms. The way Guna sings “pappa pa pappa ppa” is just stylish beyond compare and he goes to deliver his lines with glitz as always. Joseph Vijay in on guitars, and all Stem mixing and mastering is by Sai Shravanam. The synth programming and production all work brilliantly to get perfect output. Aakash Rajan is the studio assistant and the track is mixed by Karthik and Aswin George John.

Ullam Urugudhaiya

Never keep this man out of the race, as Imman will somehow find his way into the best every single month. This time it is from the movie “Etharkkum Thunindhavan” with Suriya as the lead. Pradeep Kumar is really making a remarkable comeback in to mainstream playback singing after laying low and involved in indie music. Vandana Srinivasan, and Brindha Manickavasakan are the female lead vocalists in the song. The Konakkol we hear at the beginning are by Ganapathy also plays the Mridangam, and the solo Violin is played by Manoj creating moments of nostalgia with the sounds. All the Indian percussions are conducted by Kaviraj and performed by Babu, Pradeep, Raja, Balu, Saravanan, David, Chiranjeevi and Azhagiri. Vandana and Pradeep totally grab the opportunity with both their hands and deliver a supreme vocal performance. Imman interestingly introduces he old version of “Ullam Urugutahiyya” in to the mix. Keba Jeremiah plays the acoustic and bass guitars while Subhani plays the stringed instruments. The Harmony team does a fabulous job and it comprises of Santosh Hariharan, Deepak, Shenbagaraj, Aravind Srinivas, Narayanan, Vignesh, Veena Murali, Sowmya Mahadevan, Deepthi Suresh, Abinaya Shenbagaraj, Ala B Bala and Soundarya Nandakumar. Let us forget to credit the kid’s chorus team as well comprising of Neha, Idhazhika, Dhanyasri, Shivathmika, Sahana. The Elfe Choir comprises of Roe Vincent, Angelin Nisha, Sheryl Suraj, Deepa Shankar, Nisha Sharon, Krithika Konda, Sneha Sathya, Padmaja Sreenivasan, Snigdha Chandra, Anuj Mathew, Rohit Sridhar, Reshwin Nishith, Aneesh Solomon Elfe Choir conducted by Maria Roe Vincent. Yugabharathi is the lyricist.

Yenadi Penne

Breezy, catchy, call it whatever you want, but it for certain will make you take notice of the inherent melody. The humming and solo violins by Balaji and Manoj strike you straight away and what else do you expect from one of the pioneers in Sam. C.S. I get a feeling from the opening lines that there could be some influence of Raag Saraswathi as the lines bear similarity to “Karpoora Bommai Ondru”. Abhijit Rao’s vocals are fascinating and I am reminded of Balaram who has sung for AR Rahman, with some resemblance to the vocal texture of PB Sreenivos. The month is dominated by Keba Jeremiah who has appeared in multiple of these songs and here too he plays all the versions viz. acoustic, bass and electric guitars. Sam has written the lyrics and the song has a lot of Latino Jazz style to it. The Keys are played by Abey Terrence Antony. All the strings section we hear in the background in the verse are by Chennai Orchestra. The track is mixed and mastered by B. Thiru, with CD Anbumani as the recording engineer. Bhuvana Ananth is the music supervisor , Aishwarya and Kannan are the production managers.

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