During the current climate of lockdowns and social distancing, it’s very easy to lose track of time and just get lost in the redundancy of days that don’t seem that different from each other.

Nothing much changes from day to day and some of us might find ourselves trapped within four walls for what might seem like an eternity. However, just because you are by yourself, you don’t have to be lonely. You can speak to all your friends and family over a Zoom call, you can binge on your favourite Netflix and Amazon Prime shows, or you can listen to Akele by Kaushik Ramachandran and Rahul Kannan.

The song kicks off with Kaushik Ramachandran crooning nazaron ki badal hawa, hai kaid tu yaha…deewaaron mein yun lapata, hai kal ka intezaar. And straightaway, he has our attention. After all, who can’t relate to this scenario in today’s world. We keep waiting for the situation to improve, waiting for that ever-elusive tomorrow, when things will be back to normal (whatever the new normal will be).

Kaushik’s vocal delivery is stellar, he has a very distinctive, rich and heartfelt vocal tone, and his performance does justice to the meaningful lyrics. You can sense the feelings behind every word. However, it’d be criminal to not talk about the subtle yet extremely effective instrumentation going on behind his voice. Even though the instrumentation is quite minimalist, it has been made very interesting by the varying rhythm and dynamics. Instead of just being a boring mechanical strum throughout the song, the instrumentation does a great job of adding to the mood being elucidated by Kaushik’s voice. The subtle rhythmic effects flow from note to note and do a stellar job of complementing the vocal track. The song is mixed and produced well.
We didn’t feel that it lacked any production punch.

The video of the song is also beautifully conceptualized and executed. It’s a black and white video primarily shot in soft focus. Perhaps it’s a way for the artist to tell us that the times might be hard, but we can still find a softer, easier way to look at things. Or perhaps not, it’s up to your interpretation. All we can say is, don’t miss out on watching it. It really enhances the song.
Akele is by no means an anthemic track, but it can definitely be the soundtrack to your escape from the prevailing boredom and solitude.

Verdict: Akele beautifully captures the zeitgeist of today.