Thembe Thembe - A pleasant treat to the ears

By Viola Rodrigues
Bellevision Media Network

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.

-  Sir Thomas Beecham, English Conductor (1879 – 1961)

 

Mangalore, 20 Jun 2012: Magical – The one word with which I would like to describe this Konkani music album ‘Thembe Thembe’ by Kevin Misquith.  Wondering…..why magical?? – It’s because once you listen to the songs in this album, I am pretty sure there will be quite a few songs that will not leave your memory, just as stated in the quote above.  Thembe is a Konkani word for Hani in Kannada, Boondhein in Hindi and Rain Drops in English. This is an album made up of a good blend of literarily rich lyrics, fresh mesmerising melody and stunning music. The album consists of a variety of songs – from sad to happy, romantic to reality, baila to rock. Thembe Thembe is truly an outstanding attempt by Kevin in the world of Konkani music.

 

 

The album is a collection of 14 melodious, rocking songs. I got to hear a few sample tracks, much before the release; and almost all the songs I heard gave me goose bumps, in that the lyrics, melody, and music everything in a song provided a pleasant treat to the ears. For this reason, I was eagerly waiting for the release of the album and get a copy in my hand to listen to the final product. After a lot of delays to the release, finally I have a copy of the album and all I have to say is that, the wait was worth it. This is a small attempt to share my experience with Thembe Thembe and thus give you all a glimpse into this album, especially to those who have not yet heard the songs in the album.

 

First, the song from which the album gets its name, ‘Thembe Thembe’. The lines of the song, its composition and the mesmerizing music creates a magical world around you; A cloudy weather, a gentle breeze and this song is just what you need to be a part of this magical world.

 
“Thembe thembe ashe podthath kesancher
Ume ume zashe dithath galancher
Rimjim thalak nastha monn pixem
Kalna kashem gayaan kartha ashem”

 

Both the versions of the song are outstanding. The slower version of “Thembe Thembe” is even more beautiful, for the fact that the music and singing sounds enchanting in the slow version.

 

The song that I liked the most in the album is ‘Kor Kanthar’.

“Ek geeth ashem udeilan vontar
Ek sobeeth sopan disla jinye poinar
Solfham gunthun uthrak melovn uthar
Kalza kor kanthar mogachem vazovn guitar”

 

The lines of the song though very simple, convey a beautiful message. The poetry is very well complemented by the minimal music which is made of mostly piano, acoustic guitar and a little of percussions. The rhythm of this song gives you a little of American jazz kind of feel, I bet you wouldn’t have heard any song like this before in Konkani. 

 

The foot-tapping numbers Pavle and Heyo have come out just superb. The lines of the song ‘Pavle’ written by Melvyn Rodrigues -

“Pausache poile pavle prithveer paule
Thaklele pachve bavle urben thovle
Sukon gelle matheer pachvi aankar futthana
Ruka zadancha panaar dev galtha udkana”

 

speaks well of the enchanting environment the first rain creates and of the joy it brings to the thirsty souls. The lyrics of the song get more passionate as the song grows and so does the music. The work on lead guitar in this rock number has come out amazing; and moreover the singer has done a good justification to the music, lyrics and the composition.

 

Heyo is something that I heard very recently after the album got released and the song is like an icing on the cake. Amazing singing by Joshal.

 

Saiba Bhogos is another new song for me from the album. Its lyrics in a way, sarcastically depicts the condition of a common man and the society in today’s world, has come out well, with a touch of comedy in its composition. Arun Danthy has done a good job in bringing out this comedy through his voice.

 

Thech Mathi was one song that I didn’t like when I heard its melody the first time. It was sounding so unpleasant then. But thanks to the Rony Aaron Coates, the music arranger, Royston Pinto, the singer, my opinion about this song changed. This song is definitely something new in Konkani and yes, it is one of the best compositions. The lyrics of the song by HM Pernal too are soul stirring.

 

“Ek rasnar, ek posnar thaka, thuka ani maka
Thar munshya thachas naavaan, raktham valonchim naka”

 

Koglecho Talo written by Clement Fernandes has been sung the music band - MileStone. It’s a yet another foot tapping rocky number. Songs like Pavlle, Thees Mathi  and Koglecho Thalo have given a tinge of rocky flavour to the album.

 

There are quite a few romantic songs in the album, which have beautiful poetries with just the right kind of melody that adds to the romance. One such song in the album is written by Wilson Kateel called “Khan Khan”. It is the most beautiful song in the album for the kind of lyrics and the composition. The poet has used nice metaphors in this poem.

 

“Sathri muji kali amaas muno
Burak asath pun nekethr naa
Thujya sathrek rangla pausa dhonu
Apodlyar bota rangtheeth konna”

 

the tune that has been composed for this song and particular for the above four lines is just awesome...!! I must admit that this song had me hooked to it for a very long time.

 

Dhavat marlya godshya ashen
Hathak melath festa fergo
Tum go thambdya gulya bashen
Santhe merenthlo hav burgo..!!

 

These are the lines of  Thovllem Kalliz one more romantic song in the album that has come out amazing. The beautiful lyrics by Kishoor Barkur coupled with just the right kind of melody that adds to the romance, has been very well executed by the musicians and the singer.

 

Abolem is one more soulful melody the lyrics of this song are written by Goan poet Sanjay Borkar, this is the first track in the album and is already a big hit, a very haunting melody is what that makes this song magical. And also the beautiful rendition of this romantic ballad by Prajoth D’sa makes it a treat for the years.

 

While Kan Kan, Thovllem Kalliz and Abolem have emerged as slow melodious numbers; Tu Munon with a fast rhythm sounds astounding. Darrel has again made a wonderful work on the music of the song, I felt that Ashwin’s singing to has made justice to this Kishore Barkur’s poem.

 

The new flavour of ‘Kenna Kenna’ in the form of acoustic unplugged version is truly commendable and, wonderful job by Ashish Palanna on the acoustic guitar in creating this music.

 

There are some minor flaws which I feel could have been avoided, one voice in the song koglecho thalo sounds amateur this could have been avoided, the lyric pronunciations of some singers are not perfect, the hi-fi Konkani vocabulary of the poets which might be new to the young generation of today  may have been one of the reason for it but then the singers should make an extra effort to learn the syllabus properly, excluding some minor flaws like these Thembe Thembe is an album which made me fall in love with Konkani music again.

 

One has to listen to the songs in the album to know the beauty of Thembe Thembe. Very happy that it did not  turn out to be just another Konkani music album with new songs with same old melodies, Konkani albums end up being monotonous most of the times but ‘Thembe Thembe’  has  turned out to be the most melodious and rocking album of the time. Great work Kevin and Team Thembe Thembe.

 

Viola Rodrigues - The writer is a music lover & a M’Tech student at MIT Manipal.