Music cures

(Disclaimer: This is not a music review)

I’m listening to A R Rahman’s new song from Kadal- ‘Adiye’ as I write this, and wondering how he does it. What is it about music that makes such a personal bond between song and listener? We all make a hue and cry about travelling but sometimes with music you can travel the world sitting in a room. You can shut yourself from everything with that simple invention, headphones. Or an instrument, or if you happen to be lucky enough to have a decent voice, then you need nothing. Touching the right note can be enough.

The song has now changed to ‘Anbin Vaasale’. Which pierces its way into your mind and demands your attention. What is it about this album ? Each song seems to stand out as a product of genius. This is not an album that you can play in the background, you have to stop and listen. (I’m taking around five minutes between sentences here while writing, and I stopped listening to it at work because it made my hands stop typing at the keyboard. )

 Maybe its me, but I don’t remember being this affected by a music album in a long time. Listening to each song for the first time had the anticipation of unwrapping a long overdue gift. From the time ‘Nenjukulle’ aired on MTV unplugged, it was the first song that would grace my Windows Media Player every day , until ‘Elay Keechan’ pleasantly arrived to compete. Each time he sang the line at 4:39 I wanted to hear that bit again- surprising what the slightest, almost unnoticeable modulation can do.

Listening to the rest of the songs yesterday, I couldn't stop at a comment or a ‘like’, there was something about this album that was capable of changing your mood tangentially in a mere four or so minutes. (I’m not presuming to ‘review’ this music- one can’t review something that one cannot hope to achieve in a thousand years)  Moongil Thottam and Chitthirai Nila in their separate mellifluous ways prove that people can do magic with notes and voices.  

Maybe when Roja first released it felt something like this? I was unfortunately too young to witness the magic back then, but I think this album is always going to remain special in its own way.