Songs To Lose Your Head Over. Review on Barson Huey - Sanjo and Chandrani

After a very, very long time, here’s an album that I have been able to play back-to-back, again and again. But you can’t imagine how difficult it was to get my hands on this gem.

I first read about it right here, on Mouthshut. I made a mental note to pick it up on my next music buying spree. Well, sprees came and sprees went, but I couldn’t find this anywhere. It was almost as though this album did not exist and, indeed, had never existed. It was only the certainty of the knowledge that other people had bought it that made me keep trying. I have lost count of how many shops I walked into and asked, “Sanjo and Chandrani ki album, Barson Huey hai kya?” knowing fully well that the answer would be a negative shake of the head.

I had also read on various sites that the CD version of this album had been launched, so for a while I was looking specifically for a CD. No luck. No album. So for the next two months or so, I tried relentlessly and finally gave up in disgust. What else could I do?

Then suddenly, last week I was at a store to pick up the audio cassette of Guru. And there it was with its blue aura cover design theme — a solitary copy of Barson Huey. The shopkeeper was quick to point out that all his copies had sold out and this was the only copy. Did he have a CD, I asked hopefully. No. Never mind — I grabbed the cassette. After all these months, I would be an idiot to take chances.

So friends, I finally have this in my collection. The rate at which I am listening to it, it isn’t going to last very long, so I am still looking for a CD, so if any of you know where it is available, do let me know through the Comments section right here.

About the album — it is everything that people here had told me it would be. Grand. Magical. Moving. Powerful. Artistic. What more could one ask for in this day and age? I won’t go into a song by song analysis of the high points of the album — others have already done that far better than I ever could with my decidedly mediocre writing skills. What I will do, however, is write about how the album has touched me, with its elegant lyrics and unforgettable melodies.

Each song, and I cannot leave out a single track — each song is a work of art. You can actually feel the passion of the artistes come through in all its creative glory. I know that I am getting a bit carried away, but it is the kind of album that one has to get carried away by.

The lyrics across the album are incredible, with the exception of just two songs. The depth is fascinating. In this era of makeshift lyrics, it is a wonderful surprise to see such mature writing from songwriters who are so young.

As for the songs in terms of compositions, tunes, rhythms and music, this album is the kind that can drive you crazy. Getting the tunes out of your head can be next to impossible. You have been warned!

There’s another point that I must make here: the album contains songs for every kind of mood. There are songs that you can croon romantically to your loved one. There are songs you can sing when you are brooding. There are songs you can sing when you are feeling bright and cheerful. Such variety is rare, isn’t it?

I must also mention the thing that completely dazzles me out of my mind. This rich, intense sound is the work of just three people! Three people, can you believe it? The songs are written by Chandrani and Gaurav. Then Sanjo has composed them, arranged the music, directed the music, played all the twenty-odd instruments that make up the music, and sung the songs with Chandrani. I read somewhere that the studio production was also supervised by Sanjo and Chandrani. True blue artistes in every sense of the term.

Before I close this longwinded, free-running review, I suppose I should tell you about my favourite song. I said I would not write a song-by-song denouement but I suppose I may as well tell you the one song that I have been crazed over for the past seven days. It is Barson Huey. I don’t believe that such a raw-edged song could be written purely from imagination. It throbs with a very real pain. And my heart goes out to Chandrani for whatever hurt she may have experienced that underlies this masterpiece of a song. But I am sure this beautiful music has healed the wound, no matter how deep.