Jal's new song Parinda is in its signature melodic style

Jal front man Goher Mumtaz delves into his latest work and the metamorphosis of his band

KARACHI: “Many older bands are going through the same thing. Their lineups are changed or they have other issues. I agree Jal doesn’t have the same hype it used to have,” Jal front man Goher Mumtaz confessed to The Express Tribune.

“But that’s because the sound has changed. So, we as a band need to keep reinventing ourselves and stay fresh. Our music industry is not stable and we have lost a lot of hype but there is no excuse of creating mediocre music.”



15 years ago, the Jal band was formed. And since then, it has gone through many ups and downs, aptly reflecting the shift in Pakistani’s music industry. When the entire business models have changed, it has also affected the veteran musicians and their way of producing music. According to Goher, Jal has always had a simple melodic sound. And even after delivering several hits and adapting with times, they, with their new single ‘Parinda’, have gone back to the same formula that turned them into a huge success.

“Jal’s music is all melodic and lyrics-based. The reason of our success was melody. It was always the melody that people remembered and wanted to listen over and over,” says Goher. “I had about five to six songs and I chose to release Parinda because I connected to its melody a lot. I wanted to offer the same simple, Jal-signature, melodic style with a new, modern production.”



Parinda’s music video is directed by Shoaib Rabbani and depicts Goher and actress Nazish Jahangir as film actors in love, who want to run away from the fake glamour of reel life, defying their director. Goher gives credit to Rabbani for the concept and the video, saying, “He understands me and where I come from, artistically.”

The song, which released before Ramazan, has garnered positive response from fans so far. Goher shares the band intends to release two more songs within 2017. The next song is due for release in August and is called Pal. Composed by Sarmad Ghafoor, Goher says it’s “an easy-going” track. Besides Pal, the musician is acting in and producing a local television serial Faisla’s OST.

“We are planning to do a separate music video for the title track of the serial. The track is beautiful with Salman Albert on guitars and Aamir Azhar on bass.”



Goher mentions how a lot of fans ask him when the band would release more music all the time. “And I tell them we haven’t quit music. We do release it online but they are not aware of it because the business has shifted. When music channels started playing local content during the conflict with India last year, only then people realised that we had been putting out our music. If artists produced something back in the day, people noticed because of availability of various platforms. That doesn’t happen anymore,” he says.

“We need the right kind of platforms for exposure. If Parinda came out in times of Indus music, it would have been talked about a lot. But now, there are not many channels to support it. The issue is advertising and marketing.”

Perhaps this is why the band plans to release new singles every few months from now on. “In 2017, we have three tracks and we intend to continue releasing more in the future. We want to keep producing music and offering it on a regular basis to our fans.”

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