More than an album of Organic sound, Nishkromon is an album of an ever changing Rupam in lyrical aspect. Ironically it’s a departure of Regular Rupam who used to speak in riddles and different dimensions to a Rupam who loves to draw picture in lyric. The album brings out a new Rupam who loves to write big in angst and craves to make some points clear. The album is my only companion now, while I walk down the lanes of Cardiff.
Free zone: How often does it happen that you strive too much to express in a song, the lyric spills out before you could understand it is actually happening. The first song Free zone is a good example of uncontrolled lyrical angst.
“Eshobe taai britha jorai
Jhankiye kaandh beriye jaai
Theke ki laabh shroddhar obhab
Jure jure osobhyotaai “ To express these 4 core lines of the song Rupam not only wrote big in first and third verse, he actually put too much pressure on himself while singing. See this album is introduced to mass as an organic live sound filled album. Now when you listen the first or third verse of the song, honestly do you feel its live sound? I don’t. When composition runs faster than the speed of lyric, it is extremely tough to tackle. And when it’s tough to tackle, it no more remains organic sound. Nishkromon as an album loses its honesty and faith on the first song. Though keeping these nuances aside, I would say the even numbered verses pull off the Rupam of old. How nicely Rupam controls the slurs in between “songi” and “amar”, which goes wanting in “doinik songbad”. I would say Free zone is a birth of new Rupam as a lyricist as well. I have hardly seen Rupam writing songs that’s picturesque rather than multidimensional. The pictures drawn through “akashe megh baateel abeg” and “Kono kono bhore Anti-Christ-er janalay boshe chokh mochhe Moriyom” speak a lot about Rupam’s so called fantasized “songjom” which keeps him within the “dehatito free zone” safely away from the naughty ill-behaved people. Perhaps it’s better to kill the Judas as remedy
Chador: I put my bank balance down and scream to the top of my voice that Chador is a classic. Since the day I heard Chador I knew what potential this song has. Chador goes beyond the barrier of regular compositions and stands tall on the podium of world music. The composition is exceptionally well crafted; the singing by Rupam is just brilliant. Hats off to the drums work and bass slamming too! And again Rupam’s lyric is picturesque rather than multidimensional. The frustrations lying as a dead soul waiting for the success of heaven – Chris de burgh must be happy like hell! Chador is an accumulation of many genres in a single song and I hope mass will give importance to this song in coming years as they did for fossils 1 songs.
Taake chini: Again a song of angst and perhaps recently written. The main difference between Free zone and Taake chini is the length of lyric and shorter lyrical length does help. Taake chini is poppy in sound and brings out the Music director Rupam, who wants to make music for Bollywood
Ghor sajai: sorry, it is not a song!
Kisher Aaral: Punk could be an obsession for a musician, but it does not mean you would force something again and again without any reason. Kisher Aaral is very nicely written but it lacks creativity in musical section. As a punk number it’s too stereotype.
Aalo: superb track indeed. “Lennon amar Lennon, amar moner moddhe Jeh john(jon noy)” ; very few can actually describe Moner manush, the movie so brilliantly. The bass lines are sex! and Rupam did his best until he screams! Aalo is surely the second best track of the album after Chador.
The WO WO song: It’s tough to get ahead from where you had started. Garage rock sound prevailed among the pioneer rock bands of late 90’s Kolkata and still it does. The WO WO song is just the perfect example of it. Then it suddenly slides down to jazz from garage sound in whisker. I liked the ayub bachhu’ish “ami asholey jaa chai” part. I hope Rupam could do a moon walk on stage while singing this part live. Lyrically the song brings out a Rupam in many shades. The contradiction of “amar ichhe kore toder moto dhonger kotha koi, amar ichhe kore palte dite nyaka projonmoi” is so alternatively delicious. And Rupam’s new age fans should pay an attention. But then comes the ugly religionist attack in “shaitan ke di laal golap porajito jehadir beshe” and the ambience is shattered.
AtmoBishleson: Typical Greenday sound! Awesome lyric! I don’t know why do I see an Apu of Apu’s trilogy in atmobishleson’s first verse. May be the statement of negligence and arrogance remain the same for all Apus’ accross this world. How often Rupam’s cross cultural and cross religion life comes in his lyric. From Hollywoodish intimate and bestial ambience of second verse Atmobishleson slides into a mimic ride of humiliating stinky Hinduism. Only Rupam can jam in Lord Shiva’s wife and “Sotidaha protha” together so easily. The long solo of Atmobishleson is boring and pretty monotonous though
Thanks to Nishkromon for Chador , Aalo and The Wo Wo song, how impotent it may be for rest of the songs.
