Coke Studio’s latest, Ye Dunya, is a banger with a thought-provoking message, brought to you by Karakoram, Talha Anjum and Faris Shafi.
It talks about the uncertainty in life, exploring the several subliminal fears of man while bringing out and tackling the fear of abandonment rather prominently. It sees Khattak in his element, rendering us with his timbre, wrath and boyish charm while Anjum brings his wisdom and exemplary writing to the table. Shafi isn’t far behind either but we have to say – we were expecting more from his part. However, the three acts make for a power-packed ensemble.
As per Coke Studio, the nu-metal song whips up a storm of emotions as the acts acknowledge each other’s struggles. Unfolding almost like a ‘therapy session’, Anjum remains philosophical, Faris, brutally real and Khattak’s primal scream is a confirmation that he is not alone. What could be more rebellious and heavy metal than to watch pain give way to vulnerability in a world founded on bravado? It maintains.
In standard rock fashion, sounds from three electric guitars, bass, two synths, a frenetic strings section and percussions have been layered on top of each other to deliver the ‘big sound’ required to ‘wrestle with the big message’.
Ye Dunya is written by Adnan Dhool, Anjum, Shafi and Xulfi, it is a brainchild of the latter and associate music producer, Khattak. Art Director Harris Khatri has situated the performers in a construction zone. Boxes of digitized colour rise from the ground with performers on top, like chasms promising to take them from the blackness of their world to somewhere vivid, as per the song's press release. Video Director Zeeshan Parwez adds augmented reality motion graphics around each artist, to express how fused we are with the warp-speed world of tech.
There are moments, albeit, we miss Khattak’s raw, untreated growls and Shafi’s filtered almost censored attempts at expressing himself are also comical in places. So, the treatment of the song could have been better even though it is the least commercial of this season’s offerings so far. The structure, however, is endearing and so are the musical transitions.
Listen to the song here:
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