I sat down to write a few words on this album, and now I really dont know what to write or where to start. I still remember hearing ARR’s music for the first time. I was sitting in a school bus, sad for some reason, and then I heard the Des raag inspired humming (by Sujatha) in the song ’’Kaadhal Rojaave’’. I sat there mesmerized to the tune, and wondered whether it was humming, electronic music from keyboards or both. I still dont know how he created that magic. I came home and found out through a TV programme that a new phenomenon has arrived, and the rest is history.

After all this thoughts, I hear the song ’’Sakkara’’ in New. I admit that situations are different, and themes might have shaped it differently, but still, I really wonder where ARR has gone. The song has two big names, SPB and Sujatha and I wonder why this song was specifically given to the duo. Did ARR think that the song was special? I guess so. Besides the monotonous rhythm all through, there is nothing in this song.

The track ’’If you Wanna’’ has again cornered me. Where should I go? What should I think? It is sure to appeal to the new generation, but not like ’’Chikku Bukku’’ or ’’Telephone Mani’’. It will stay for sometime and will be gone before you know it. It looks like ARR has not played a big role in composing or arranging this track.

The track ’’Kaalayil Dinamum’’ is good, probably the second best in my opinion. Unnikrishnan returns after a while, to sing this number. The rhythm is mild, in line with the overall emotion and softness of the song. The anupallavi is just ordinary. I would have suggested a different female lead singer. Sadhna Sargam is an excellent singer, but not to the likes of Chitra, Sujatha or Harini. In those places where exquisite gamakam (sliding) is needed, she does falter a bit.

The track ’’Kunbakonam’’, in its own context does invoke the feeling. After the pallavi, I felt that the musical interlude went too far to innovate. After that however, the song does feature some heartful rendering by Nithyashree and Manickya Vinayagam. In spite of the harsh sounding context, look for some effortless classical singing. Not many singers can sing this song with such clarity. Specifically look for the singing of the lines ’’Naada, Nee Varuvaaya...’’ by Nithyashree towards the end.

The track ’’New, New’’ is a rap (or sounding like one). Mixed here and and there are vocals by Karthik (again not sure in the noisy environment). The song has nothing special, and looks like complete chaos. The song could be a chartbuster for two weeks maybe, with the help of good visual presentation.

The song ’’Spiderman’’ is different, drastically innovative. Good use of the acoustic guitar to accent the rhythm. The use of sharp notes reminds me of the James Bond title song by Tina Turner (Golden Eye). But what I liked the most is the anupallavi & charanam. For me, it sounded like Raag-Jog (Similar to Naatai in South-Indian Classical). The raag has good potential to invoke the feeling of shadows and suspicion due to the peculiar nature of its swaras. To hear a nice rendering of Jog, readers are directed to a malayalam song in the Album ’’His Highness Abdullah’’, the name of the song being ’’Pramadavanam’’. My mother tongue is not Tamil, but am familiar with it, and could clearly see Kunal and Sadhana struggling with the words.

In short, this is the pick of the album. Probably, a song which can only be conceived, directed, and processed by ARR.

’’Thottap Poo Malarum’’ is melodius. The song starts with mild rhythm, brings in a bit of Sarangi, Mrudangam and then Western beats take over. Hariharan and Harini amazes us again with their masterful singing. The song has been tuned in Raag-Hindolam (Like the song Marghazhi Poove). The rhythm, as is increasingly seen in Rahman albums these days, is based on Techno beats. Whats going on? I wonder. Overall, this is a good song.

In short, my picks for this album are in the order of preference: Spiderman, Thottaal Poo Malarum, and Kaalayil Dinamum.

To end this review, I seriously request ARR to come back (though not physically), and to bless us with some good music. I dont care if it comes in the form of Hollywood Background scores, Musicals or even independent albums. We (your fans) can feel a vacuum out there.

Best time to play this is when:

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