The Sketches rekindles sufi magic with new song

Exploring sufi narratives, Main sufi Hoon will take you on a journey of self-discovery.

KARACHI:

While some musicians are busy capitalising on the pre-election buzz and producing satirical tracks on the political scenario in the country, others are busy trying to enter Bollywood. In such times, a band like The Sketches has something else in store for the fans. In fact, with such diversity in the realms of music, it’s refreshing to witness a band who believes in keeping its signature style intact. The Sketches is a textbook example of just that and so is their new song, Main sufi Hoon.

The sufi rock band from Jamshoro takes you on a journey of self-discovery with their new track where they convince you to question everything that is happening around you; all this, just to be at peace with your existence. For sufis, it is ultimately about the search of the divine power that exists within oneself and all that is needed to accomplish this, is a bit of soul searching.

Since their formal introduction at the finest music platform in Pakistan, Coke Studio, with Mandh Waai, The Sketches has never looked back. The band’s vocalist Saif Samejo and guitarist Naaem Shah have been persistently making music in the love of the Sindhi culture they belong to. Main sufi Hoon seems like the Nirvana of their journey of sufi music that began more than seven years ago, as the video and audio of the song hit all the right chords, making it one of the most impactful pieces of multimedia seen recently.



The recurring lyrics “Main sufi hoon sarmasta, merah kaun pehchaane rasta” (I am sufi and who knows my way) is a household rhyme for the people of Sindh and is also one of the most popular kalaams amongst sufis all around the world. The Sketches, however, has brought a more modern rendition of this original traditional tune, making it a thought-provoking and impactful song, not only for the fans of sufi music, but the fans of rock music too.

The Sketches made the right decision by involving fine musicians in the project like Gumby, Faraz Anwar and Jono Manson, a US-based composer who had earlier collaborated with the band. While listening to the melodious song, you can pinpoint a hitch; the audio quality of Main sufi Hoon is a testimony to the experience and craftiness of the musicians involved.

The video, which takes you on an unforgettable journey to the sand dunes and shorelines of Sindh, speaks volumes about the high quality work done in the post-production. The video features model Abbas Jafri, who plays a malang wandering in the desert of Thar looking for solutions of life; actor Suhaee Abro, on the other hand, plays a helpless girl doing pretty much the same thing. At the end, both of them find their strengths in the desert’s sand; while the malang finds himself controlling the wind, the girl dances to ignite fire in the desert.

What might sound like a simple plot was actually very difficult to execute, but director Adnan Kandhar and his team pulled it off well, giving the sufi kalaam Main sufi Hoon, the soulful treatment it deserves.

With no gap in the release of their music and churning out back-to-back collaborations with diverse artists, The Sketches is one of the finest new bands in recent times. Their colloquial music and folk tunes remind us of legends like Allan Fakir and Fakir Juman Shah. Their productions have a new spin on sufi music and that is the reason why they have a fan following all over the world, which is increasing with time.

Main sufi Hoon has been shared widely on social media within a month of its release, and a number of leading musicians including well-known sufi singer Sanam Marvi, appreciated the band’s effort for keeping sufi music alive.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2013.                    

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