Listen: 'Husn' is proof Ali Zafar is pro at channeling pain into love and vice versa

KARACHI:

Ali Zafar has dropped Husn, a song echoing his search for soul both in music and love. The singer’s latest is a qawwali-cum-ballad that chronicles his devotion to his loved one. While doing so, it features some very famous couplets by the late sufi poet, Amir Khusrau.

The song reflects the duality in love with a musical duality, expressed through the tablas and sarangi blending seamlessly with guitars and bass. The track isn’t a quintessential, peppy Ali Zafar number. It’s more heartfelt and versatile. Blending Eastern elements with Western sensibilities, it enables a new sound to flow.

There are also binaries expressed through the visuals, which capture the many facets of Ali Zafar embroiled in both spiritual and physical love. Husn is also reminiscent of Ali’s Jhoom era, which is still a fan-favourite. Although, it isn’t like Jhoom at all. There are moments it takes you by surprise; Ali’s rhythmic improvisations heard in the form of his cues to the qawwals are piercing. His voice crescendos without breaking.

The song is also testament to Ali’s vocal strengths lying in his ability to channel pain and love – be it in Jhoom, Paharon Ki Qasam or Husn.

About the song, Ali notes in the description on YouTube, "Husn is more than just a song to me; it encapsulates my spiritual journey to grasp the very essence of what we call love. The melody first whispered to me nearly a decade ago at Jahangir's tomb in Lahore, just before my performance at Jahan-e-Khusrau, when the esteemed Muzaffar Ali Sahab presented me with these exquisite couplets by Hazrat Amir Khusrau.”

However, it took Ali four more years to arrange and record the track, which “resided deep” within his soul. “I faced years of struggle in conceptualising and visually portraying such a profound theme,” he expressed. “Yet, a few weeks ago, while en route to Turkey, I made the decision to follow my intuition and capture what unfolded as a spontaneous improvisation. I felt that the song, which had been brewing within me for years, had to be brought to life.”

For Ali, the most powerful form of art is one that takes you on a transformative journey of both pain and pleasure throughout its creation, and remains open to individual interpretation upon completion. “My utmost desire is for Husn to enable you to transcend and discover your own personal understanding of love through a profound experience of listening and viewing. I eagerly await your thoughts once you have immersed yourself in the song,” he concluded.

Produced and put together by Ali, Husn is co-arranged and programmed by Hassan Badshah with Amir Azhar on guitars and bass, Danyal Zafar on bass, Naveed Hussain on tabla and Murad Ali Khan on sarangi. It features qawwali by Akber Bashir, Shahbaz Khan and Saleem Khan, while it is mixed and mastered by Akash Pervaiz and recorded at Lightingale Studios.

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