Delights and disappointments a look into Coke Studio Season 5

Coke Studio is perhaps one of the best things to have happened to Pakistan’s music industry in the last few years. Every year, Coke Studio showcases some of the best vocal talents the country has to offer, coupled with some wonderful fusion of music – ethnic and modern, old and new, classic and contemporary.
This year’s Coke Studio was expected to be no different than the last. This year, though, the music took on a different turn while the vocal talent remained the same. Coke Studio season 5 had a distinctly modern touch to it, shedding a lot of the old, eastern feel that it used to have – the same eastern feel that made Coke Studio special in the previous seasons. This is not to say that Coke Studio did not give us some brilliant songs. But these songs were those where Coke Studio retained the use of eastern instruments and maintained the fusion between contemporary and classical. Kamlee, performed by Hadiqqa Kiani is one such song. As the song starts, her voice haunts the listener into paying attention, and the music adds to that spiritual effect. As the beats picks up, one feels goose-bumps erupt, and every note in Haddiqa’s voice takes one higher and higher into that spiritual journey that the song was meant for. Haddiqa Kiani, with this song, has proved once again why she is so special to Pakistani music. Simply put, Haddiqa Kiani did the song absolute justice.
Larsha Pekhawar Ta by Hamayoon Khan from the first episode was one song the listener would thoroughly enjoy, even if they may not understand that lyrics. This is because the music is rich with instruments, inducing a cheerful effect in the listener. Charkha Nolakha by Atif Aslam and Qayaas is also one of the secret delights of the entire season. Atif Aslam’s voice is complemented by Umair Jaswal’s deep vocals and both of the singers give the song the feel of rock music fused with spiritual tunes and the entire effect is really quite entertaining.
Bilal Khan’s Larho Mujhey and Taaray keep the singer within the genre of sappy songs, and they might delight a 16 year old freshly in love, but they fail to stand out as something that would awe the listener – the effect Meesha Shafi and the Chakwal Group created in Ishq Aap Bhe Awalla. But that could simply be because Coke Studio once again created a wonderful fusion between classical and contemporary. The vocals in this song are astounding and it should go down in Coke Studio’s history as one of the greats.
Pere Pavandi Saan by Mithu Saan should have been a brilliant song. It wasn’t. Here one cannot blame the singer because he displays his vocal abilities in the beginning of the song. But once the musical notes strike, the listener just sits and goes through waves of disappointment. It sounds like a disco themed spiritual song, and it is a terrible combination, and an injustice to the vocalist.
One is also left wondering the place of songs like School Di Kitaab and Paisay Da Nasha in Coke Studio, not because there is no place for songs like these, but because fusing rap with eastern instruments? Really? How were they expecting the audience to react to it? Definitely not with applause and a call for encore.
Overload with Rachel Viaccaji, too, came up with an average performance of Naray Aah, which was a disappointment because Overload has never failed the listener musically until now.
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the entire season was Dashte Tanhai by Meesha Shafi. This is not because she did a bad job, but because she was taking on a legend and this time, unlike Chori Chori, she failed to capture the audience as she did in the last season. Her voice sounded way more nasal than the song dictated, and the music in the song, once again, felt way too modern, killing the impact of the lyrics. Iqbal Bano’s version remains unbeaten today. Meesha Shafi is a brilliant singer, but this song was not for her, mostly because the music clashed with her voice, not complimenting it. Her voice sounded digitally engineered and was distinct from the music.
All is not lost, though. Wah Wah Jhullara by the Chakwal Group goes down in Coke Studio history as one of the secret delights of the song. Not only is this song vocally rich, the lyrics are beautiful and the music complements the vocals perfectly.
While Hadiqa Kiana’s version of Rung was wonderful to listen to, she was no match for Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad, who captured the listener from the first few seconds of the song. The vocals, the music, the notes – everything in this song was perfected to the very last detail, making the audience fall in love with Coke Studio all over again. Coke Studio legend? Yes!
Overall, this season was not as wonderful as one would have hoped. There were highs and there were lows, sometimes the lows overshadowing the highs of the season, taking away some of the enchanting edge Coke Studio Sessions used to have.