It's Like Wine... It Gets Better With Time. Review on Barson Huey - Sanjo and Chandrani

For many years now, this is an album that has stayed with me, in my music collection and in my heart. It used to permanently be in one of the trays of my CD player at home. Later, I transferred the songs to my iPod. Periodically, I would refresh my collection getting rid of the songs that I had grown tired of – but I never deleted any of the songs from Barson Huey. Far from fatigue setting in, I had grown to like the songs even more. In fact, they seemed to get better with the passage of time – like wine maturing slowly in oaken casks.

Many years ago, I had been fortunate enough to meet Sanjo face-to-face. At that time, Sanjo was performing quite regularly in Neemrana, Behror and Jaipur. I used to work with the Jaipur edition of a mainline English daily newspaper at that time and I was asked by my subeditor to do an interview for the Entertainment section of the paper. I tried to ensure that both Sanjo and Chandrani would be there for the interview, but Chandrani was not on the live performance circuit. So my piece was an interview only with Sanjo.

At that time I had asked him what the duo would be coming up with next. After all, many bands and artistes all over the world put all their musical creations in the first album and then have no material for the next one. In Sanjo’s case, his reply startled me. Apparently, with Sanjo and Chandrani the creative process is a constant stream of musical ideas. At any point in time, they are working on several songs. As a result of this, at the time of my interview, they already had enough material for not just one but at least two more albums!

Coming back to Barson Huey – I was always a great fan of the title song; I still am. I’m listening to it even as I write this review. This song represents extremely meaningful and sensitive song-writing backed by melody and music that is remarkably different from the sounds one is accustomed to hearing on the Indian pop music scene. I noticed that other reviewers have posted the lyrics of Sapno Ka Ek Shahar and Palkon Pe Tha but not the title track. So let me do the honours…

BARSON HUEY

Lyrics: Chandrani

Composed, Arranged and Performed by: Sanjo

BARSON HUEY TUMSE MILEY

DIL KA YEH AALAM HAI KE

TUM JO YUN ACHAANAK MIL GAYE

MEHFIL MEIN KAR GAYE AKELE

PEECHHEY YUN MURHKE JO DEKHA THO

LEHERA GAYE SAAYE YAADON KE

LAMHE BEETEY AISE JAISE BEETI SADIYAAN

NA JAANE DIN YEH KAB KAISE BEETEY

AB THO KEH DO NA YAAR

KE TUM KO BHI THA PYAAR

SHAAYAD TABHI THO PHIR HUM TUM MILE

TUM NE BHI THO KABHI AANKHON MEIN

BHARE HONGEY SHAAYAD MERE SAPNE

KHOYI HOGI MERI YAADON MEIN

DHOONDA HOGA MUJH KO RAAHON MEIN

MUJH KO DIL HI DIL MEIN CHAAHA HOGA

PYAAR KYA TUMNE BHI MUJH SE KIYA HOGA

CHAAHA TUM CHAAHOGI MUJH KO

PAR KEH NA PAAYA KABHI TUM KO

AB THO KEH DO NA YAAR…

NA JAANE TUM KYUN KHO GAYI

LE KE MERI YAADEIN KAYI

MAIN NE APNE VAADE NIBHAAYE

YAADON MEIN BHI TUM NAHIN AAYE

PHIR KYUN AANKHON SE TERE CHHALKE

LAMHE WOH PYAARE, YAADEIN WOH KAL KE

DIL MERA AB BHI HAI BEKARAAR

AAJ BHI HAI TERA INTEZAAR

AB THO KEH DO NA YAAR…

Sapno Ka Ek Shahar is another favourite song of mine. Musically, it epitomises the best that this album has to offer. It’s a song that evokes tranquillity, equanimity and a sense of letting go. It is also powerful in its imagery – sadly, there is no music video for Sapno Ka Ek Shahar(at least not that I am aware of) but I have no difficulty in visualising the song as a cinematic piece of art.

Palkon Pe Tha is treated by many listeners as the tour de force of this album – and I agree with this viewpoint. The execution of this song is completely different from the other songs in the album. For one, it’s the only female solo; for another, the music is exquisitely sparse on this song, created mainly using some awesome guitar-work on Sanjo’s part. And like Sapno Ka Ek Shahar, it is high on visual imagery, conjuring up stark images of emotional turmoil and the sheer fragility of hopes and dreams.

There are short clips of all three songs available on SoundCloud. Just search using the keywords “Sanjo, Chandrani” and you find them. The CD I talked about sold out a long time ago. However, recently – as a prelude to the launch of their second album – Sanjo and Chandrani have re-released these three songs in digital audio format. You can buy them on the OK Listen website. Use the keywords “Barson Huey” and you land right on the page where all three songs are available.

In case your ears perked up when I mentioned the "second album"… yes, four songs from the new album are available on the same website. This time around used the keywords “Ham Se Hi Hai Yeh Sab”(that’s the name of the album) and you’ll find yourself on the right page.

And yes, you can listen to audio clips of the new songs on SoundCloud too; the same keywords will get you there.

And now… I will stop writing and go back to sipping my rare wine. Palkon Pe Tha is starting to play on my music system and I’m going to let the intoxication take over…