by Arthish Banerjee
Six-strong Pineapple Express have blasted on to the scene yet again with their energetic new music, titled 'Jazbaat', now available on all major streaming platforms. The musical bunch have continued on their well-established and highly-acclaimed nature of giving the listeners a listening experience that has a plethora of ups, downs and everything in between wrapped in a delightfully colorful melody.
Photo: Pineapple Express on Facebook
While it is certainly difficult to classify the group within the bounds of a single genre, their music is compact and comes together beautifully in each track. Blending certain elements of traditional Carnatic music with the ever-evolving rock, experimental, electronic and progressive influences, Pineapple Express creates music that is quite unique and hugely attractive.
On their latest release, Pineapple Express haven't held back on anything, and the full, engaging arrangement is a prime example of that fact. Guitar picking patterns ushered us in to the listening experience set against the fantastic backdrop that the ambient synth sounds proved to be, providing a rather bright sound. The flute right at the onset of the song also had masterful playing behind it and had both supremely melodic and rigorously rhythmic qualities to it, that emphasized the groove of the song effortlessly.
These are, however, only little bits at the beginning, before the star of the show makes an appearance – the absolutely majestic singing on this track blows everything else on display on this track out of the water in terms of impact. The strength and soulful rendition of the vocal melodies were crisp and smooth, giving off a rather relaxing vibe while we wait for the notes to touch the edges of the sky and come back crashing into our heart. Superb instrumentation on the synth track, especially considering the fast, yet clean patterns that adorned the song behind the vocals in the hook.
The other unmistakable trait of Pineapple Express as a band and their music as a whole, is the really innovative usage of Indian elements to keep tugging the listener back into a dreamy world from the groovy one – into a land of beautiful flutes and other elements close to home from the ambience of heavy guitars and powerful drumming. The contrast is absolutely delightful for the listener, and the song, as a result, is utterly unputdownable.
Transitioning between two languages in the same song is something which is superbly difficult to pull off for any artist in any part of the world, but 'Jazbaat' shows us the natural ability that Pineapple Express has in pulling that off. The mood of the song shifted as well, going from a rather calm, composed arrangement to a hard-hitting, headbanger of an instrumentation pattern that is testament to how the song progressed and evolved in its lifetime of five minutes and forty-six seconds.
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