Trying too hard

Updated on: 15 March,2010 04:41 PM IST |
Lalitha Suhasini |

Pakistan's Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan's second album is a colossal waste of talent

Kyun Dooriyan
Artiste: Shafqat Amanat Ali
Label: Music Today
Price: Rs 199
*u00a0

Where's the fire? It's a question that pops up everytime you hear ex Fuzon singer post his Aankhon ke sagar avatar from Fuzon's debut. You wouldn't know the difference if someone pulled out a few tracks from Tabeer, Shafqat's disappointing solo debut and sneaked them into the second album.

The biggest problem with the album perhaps is direction -- Shafqat seems undecided whether he should take the Bollywood pop route (Mitwa) or go the affected pop rock route. The title track begins well and there's a glimpse of the soulful balladeer that he can be till some mindless riffs (think Bon Jovi) strip the track of any attempt at originality. Jaayein kahan suffers from a similar ailment of wanting to be what it's not and need not be -- Shafqat can lose the rock complex. And then there are tracks such as Tu hi sanam, which sound like they've been pushed in as fillers.

Kya haal sunawan is another track that held great promise -- for instance, the sarod opening to the track is brilliant -- but there's a weird chorus that sings in anglicised Urdu that is jarring and tacky at once. By far, Kya haal sunawan is also the only bright spot on the album.

Shafqat's attempt at creating fusion here is questionable and more than anything else it's clear that if a piece of music isn't organic it fades out before you even hit stop.