Filmfare award winning recording artist, performing artist and singer-songwriter Shakthisree Gopalan has worked extensively with reputed composers in the Indian Film Music Industry – Oscar and Grammy winning composer A.R.Rahman, Anirudh Ravichander, Harris Jeyaraj, Santosh Narayanan, Gopi Sunder, M. Jayachandran – to name a few, singing in multiple Indian languages : Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, singing over a 100 songs that have appeared in numerous Indian movies. Shakthisree Gopalan has also received several notable awards for her work in the Indian Film Music Industry.
As a singer-songwriter, Shakthi has been writing and releasing her original music since 2008 independently. Shakthi was also formerly the lead vocalist and songwriter of Chennai based bands – Off The Record and The Pyjama Conspiracy. With a penchant for storytelling and vocal arrangements, Shakthi’s songwriting is honest and simplistic, and her songs are characterised by their lush vocal harmonies. On her latest track, “Nee Podhumey”, Shakthisree Gopalan has collaborated with trained vocalist and guitarist Akshay Yesodharan (from Big Sam and Chennai Street Band), and that’s what we are reviewing here.
“Nee Podhumey” roughly translates to “all i need is you”. This song is an embodiment of the tenderness and the massiveness of love. With pop, neo-soul, country and folk influences, honest, simplistic songwriting and guitar parts inspired by Indian classical music, elements of live strings, synths and classic gated reverb snares and lush harmonies, Nee Podhumey is a song about love, warmth, trust, togetherness, and the small little big thing that is love. It was written and composed in 2020, perhaps the strangest year of our lifetime.
On “Nee Podhumey”, Shakthisree Gopalan has created a sparkling, ethereal sonic experience by just using a few simple elements and lots of crystal-clear space in between. The sound is full of light, colour and warmth and you can’t help but smile as you listen to it. The vocal performance is really stunning. Both Shakthisree and Akshay will delight your ears with shimmering melodies that are full of longing and tantalising hints of mystery
“Nee Podhumey” is a magnificent work of tuneful, luminous, vocal melodies layered over gorgeous ambient textures. At four minutes and 13 seconds long, it’s quite transient, but it will stay etched in your brain for a long time after the last note has faded.
Verdict: Shimmering.
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