By Sheharyar Rizwan

This Sunday saw Coke Studio present its fourth session of the ongoing season. This episode featured the likes of Uzair Jaswal, Atif Aslam, Bohemia teaming up with the Chakwal group, Hamayoon Khan, and the combination of Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad.

Hamayoon Khan appears once again for his rendition of a combination of two Pashtu folk songs – "Tora Bahraam Khaana/Tora Da Jalkay” – bearing similar themes. Both the folk songs revolve around lovers singing for their beloveds, who are dark complexioned. But through these folk love songs the lovers try to express the fact they unconditionally love the other person, irrespective of their facial appearance. Like Hamayoon’s "Larsha Pekhawar Ta, Tora Baram Khanna” also includes Pashtu couplets or tappas. The modern touch rendered to Pashtu music comes as a breath of fresh air in Hamayoon’s mellifluous and perfectly regional dialect that does complete justice to both folk songs. Such an addition to Coke Studio can only be an attempt to make it bigger and better.

Next in the line up was the "Kandyaari Dhol Geet” by the Chakwal group-Bohemia combo. Now, after the breathtaking "Ishq Aap Bhi Awalla”, expectations had risen from this immensely talented little-known group. Their typical vernacular immediately develops a connection with the listener, even who doesn’t have much know-how of their style of music. Plus, with them teaming up with the contemporary Bohemia, one could expect an explosive fusion of two altogether different forms of music. "Kandyaari Dhol Geet” is a love song by Aziz Lohar, a contemporary of the Chakwalis. It’s a fusion between contrasting tragedies of love: one joyfully sung by the Chakwalis referring to spiritual love; and the other by Bohemia relating to people lost in material realm. Though not as mind-blowing as the group’s last performance, this one does leave its own mark. But one thing’s for sure, the Chakwal group is an impressive and promising discovery and they sure can contribute immensely to the national music scene.

Moving on, Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad performed "Rung”: a qawwali of Amir Khusro’s poetry, resounding with the purity, soul and spirituality of Sufism.

This qawwali had also been a usual finale of various gatherings because of the spiritual effect it is said to have on people. This version of the qawwali is considered to be the closest to the original rendition by Amir Khusro. Earlier in the same season, Hadiqa Kiyani also presented her own version of the qawwali, and now this time by the duo. This is just to show how the same poetry can be presented in two contrasting forms, yet leave the same spiritual impact. This also goes to show how traditional music can be experimented on a revived to keep it alive among future generations. Just like qawwali never fails to leave a devout affect on the listener, this one also proved to be music to the ears, even for a layman.

Next up was Uzair Jaswal who’s slowly creating waves in the music industry with his fresh and romantic voice. This guy sure is becoming a hit favourite among the younger generation and is being touted as the next big thing. Uzair rendered one of his own compositions, "Bolay”, which is very different from his other songs. Most of his other songs are sad and mellow and this time, after the massive success of his "Nindiya Ke Paar”, Uzair wanted to do something that would appeal more to people of his own generation.

This song represents the freedom, love and a carefree sense of life during one’s youth – one that Uzair hopes will touch the younger lot. This light-hearted track, played with a typical eastern folk beat, promises to be as big, if not less, as his previous Coke Studio presentation.

Last but not the least in this week’s line-up was Atif Aslam who performed a new song, "Dholna”, which was originally supposed to be on one of Atif’s albums. It talks about the singer’s journey, about the idea of searching for someone and turning to God in pain of separation from his beloved. The search for God and yearning for closeness makes the person stronger and see the Sufi idea of ‘true love’ in a different way. To give this presentation a more authentic spiritual feel, Atif mixed it with a section of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s magnanimous qawwali, "Shaana Uchiyan”, and added a whole new dimension to it. Maybe this decision proved to be a saving grace for this otherwise disappointing number.