Nu.WAV's debut track 'Dil' gets a mixed reception online

The first song to come out of Coke Studio Pakistan's new Nu.WAV platform landed with a mixed reception online, with much of the debate centred around whether the offshoot is being fairly judged on its own terms or simply measured against the parent show.

The track, Dil, featured overnight sensations Afusic and Ali Soomro of Pal Pal fame alongside newcomer Zoha Waseem, who went viral last year with Majboor.

Afusic opened the track lamenting love while appearing to float mid-air, before Zoha took over in the second half with the soothing vocals that made Majboor a hit.

Reactions ranged from delighted to unimpressed. Some X users responded with simple enthusiasm: "OH SHIT COKE STUDIO HELL YEAHHHH", sharing their excitement; some lauded the singer and declared that "Zoha Waseem totally smashed it."

Others were less convinced. Questioning how the platform managed to get "a mid song out of Afusic and Zoha Waseem," and half-jokingly asking whether millennials had "started crying over Coke Studio nu.wav yet, or are we pretending to have evolved as a society?"

Nu.WAV was unveiled on Coke Studio Pakistan's Instagram on August 23, positioned as a separate space from the traditional Coke Studio format, one built for musicians, filmmakers and visual artists to experiment with independent sounds and stories, and created by Khan.

Describing itself as the "sound of the people," the platform is designed to let artists build their own creative worlds rather than work within Coke Studio's established format.

The inaugural line-up brought together artists including Asim Azhar, Hasan Raheem, Young Stunners, Shae Gill, Maanu, Rovalio and Abdullah Kasumbi. Five more tracks, Maheya, Rangeen, Qasam, Shabnam and Ae Deewan-e-Dil, are expected to follow Dil as part of the platform's first edition.