n 2022, Abdullah Siddiqui made his Coke Studio debut as a featured artist while collaborating with the country’s most popular name in music – Atif Aslam – for an original song called ‘Go’.

During Coke Studio 14, Siddiqui was also responsible for a number of tasks including being the season’s associate producer. To call Coke Studio 14 a success would be understating the matter and a great deal of that success was due to the prodigious Siddiqui being on the music team.

Apart from Coke Studio, his collaborations with artists as diverse as Meesha Shafi, Faris Shafi, Fawad Khan (Pepsi Battle of the Bands) and Natasha Noorani to his own records and music for Saim Sadiq’s Joyland is enough evidence that there is no space in music that Siddiqui cannot inhabit and conquer - either as an individual artist, or as a music producer or a collaborator across multiple fronts.

In short, he is the producer of the times.

So, when someone like Abdullah Siddiqui joins forces with accomplished, popular artists such as Ali Sethi, Shae Gill and Maanu, it immediately requires attention and discussion. There’s also the fact that Ali Sethi, Shae Gill and Maanu have their unique strengths as artists and out of the three, Sethi and Maanu have a staggering number of original songs if we look into their music.

In a nutshell, ‘Left/Right’ is a space-age electronic music fused ghazal and where others might have failed, this supergroup of artists has prevailed. In some ways, it is not a song that belongs to one artist but shows what happens when artists adopt a fearless attitude, work together and why this distinction should be highlighted and taken seriously for longevity of the music scene.

The single, ‘Left Right’ is a musical deviation. The way it rises and flows and is unexpectedly visceral and tender is a surprise. That Abdullah Siddiqui is also singing and is in front of the camera and not only behind it as music producer is delightful. Shae Gill, is, however, the biggest vocal asset and she’s proven once again why she is not a one-hit wonder.

Maanu also plays his musical part, adding a texture to the song that lends it a broader identity. All four of them have written the song with Fahad Hussayn (or as he is now known ‘Raja Fahad Hussayn’) directing the music video as well as producing it with styling said to have taken place at Fahad Hussayn Academy.

The overall sound, instruments, vocal diversity also lends the song an air of mystery at times and sometimes all you need is a quotient of mystery that makes you go back and listen and decipher the larger narrative and come to an interpretation of your own.

To many fans on the internet, the track is a ‘banger’ and that is really a triumph given how the visuals almost feel embedded in an old school
universe. Can it surpass ‘Pasoori’? Probably not. But it is good to see how Ali Sethi, Shae Gill, and Abdullah Siddiqui have built on the success that came with ‘Pasoori’. That Maanu is a part of the single is symbolic of how such collaborations and songs echo inclusiveness.

As 2023 continues, we’re seeing artists try out new things, sonically and visually and this gorgeous song is yet another example. Missing out on it would be a loss for anyone who considers themselves a fan of Pakistani music.

It has to be added that Abdullah Siddiqui is an intelligent music producer; it is not an ability every producer has, especially in the post-rock period where even acts like U2 are rethinking shows and how to release music. Here’s to many more collaborations, but until such time, add this song to your playlist.