Few people make you sit up and notice their composition like Rabbi Shergill does. One of the few artists whose every new work or even public appearance is eagerly awaited by yours truly. So I was just about disappointed by his last work - no its not his debut album I am talking about, it was his music for the bollywood experiment Delhi Heights. Experiment it was in a true sense of the word, given the cast, director, music and yes the publicity as well.
Maybe Rabbbi and bollywood don't go along all that well(most of his fans including me would like that to keep happening), so here he is trying to do what he (that is what I think at least) does best - dishing out his thoughts in his new private album and not surprisingly, its called Aawengi Ja Nahin.
One of the first problems that I face when editing the ID3 tag for a Rabbi Album in my iTunes library is defining the genre. It sure is punjabi(the new album even has a beautifuly rendered english track to defy that though), a bit(or more than that) of sufi, the different guitar patterns bring in a tinge of rock and if you want to give credit to the singer/composer himself... its revolutionist to some extent. But that's for the perfectionist, if you are a music freak in the crude sense - just play it on.
The new album has 9 tracks, of which the title track Aawengi Ja Nahin, is of course all the more ear catching and hummable given the the fact that its splashed all over the music charts, and has that distinct rabbi look to the music as well as the video.
My persoanl favourite is Main Bolia, track 3 and a great piece of simple guitar flavour for the amtaeur guitar enthusiast. No wonder I have been trying my best to find the chords for the song online ever since I heard it for the first time. If you happen to find a good tab-set, please be kind enough to post in the link.
Challa, track 1 is nostalgic stuff, that reminds one of Gill te Guitar from his debut album.
Tu Avin Bandra, track 6 holds special meaning for me as I am going to shift to Mumbai very soon. Remains to be seen what the invitation is all about.
Bilqis(Jinhe Naz Hai), track 8 again brings the revolutionist to the fore, albeit, Rabbi seems to loose himself, in the eagerness of conveying the message, but then again, maybe that is what he alway intends to do - pass on the real message.
Return to Unity, the last track seems more of a prayer for the celebration. And the fact that this song and the one above have been especially mentioned as Rabbi's own productions, just emphasize the fact that these are compositions close to heart.
The presentation is nice, with creative and indulging cover design, and all songs with line to line punjabi to english transliteration - another effort on part of the artist to break the language barrier in order to reach out to everyone so as to convey - the message.
The music's out on Yash Raj Music, a first for the Yash Raj group company, i suppose. The album debuted across the country on mobile phones in collabration with Nokia, another first which indicates a lot about the amount of excitement that Rabbi's new album generates everytime he comes out with one.
The final word - its not in the same league as the debut album, but then if you want to listen to Rabbi the singer, you need not compare, just listen and feel.