Time after time

When Saakin, a five-piece music group, made its debut in 2018 with a mammoth single called ‘Saqi-E-Bawafa’, many of us found them so compelling and fresh in a stagnant market that every move they made post-debut was watched with deliberation.

Featuring Ali Hamdani, Usman Shakeel, Varqa Faraid, Parham Farhaid and Ibrahim Akram, their elating music landed them at Live at True Brew where they presented another gem, a single called ‘Kundian’ with poetry by Baba Bulleh Shah.

Even more significantly, the band impressed filmmaker Sarmad Khoosat so much that he took a chance on them and asked them to produce the music for his film, Zindagi Tamasha.

Saakin lived up to the hype by delivering two terrific singles and a perfect musical score (by Varqa Faraid and Shamsher Rana) to go with the equally nuanced film. They also showed us that they can collaborate as they’ve worked regularly with the underrated Shamsher Rana as well as Jamal Rahman for Live at True Brew.

With their 2021 release, ‘Intebah’, an original song featuring Amir Bresler, Ismail Lumanovski, with a music video that can be interpretated as living under Kafka-esque times, the band showed that they cannot be pigeonholed as a Sufi group. ‘Intebah’ sealed the deal for Saakin as one of the most promising music groups from Pakistan. What made Saakin special was not about frequency with which they released music. Unlike other musical peers, Saakin bided their time and released a single, backed by a stunning music video, on their own terms.

Times like these

Every time Saakin presents a new song, it calls for a celebration. You don’t know what to expect, and when you do spend some time with their any of their releases, it becomes obvious that this is a band that is as unpredictable as it is soulful. No one person in the band is trying to outdo another, and each song has a focus behind it, a theme or a motif.

To that end, Saakin dropped a new single just 11 days ago called ‘Tanam’ and kept the spirit of collaboration alive by collaborating with brothers Zain (Ali) and Zohaib (Ali), the latter being a popular qawwali group with predecessors who played with the late and legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. While Zain and Zohaib have collaborated with other prominent artists and even appeared on Coke Studio, this collaboration with Saakin makes perfect sense since both share musical characteristics that go beyond a single form of music, even as they’re collective body of work might seem restrictive.

‘Tanam’ has many attributes, but perhaps the strongest one is the soulful rendition; it is also one that hasn’t been created with the purpose of fetching huge numbers. There is nothing superficial about the song, and it cannot be replaced by another track after a few weeks. It is provoking yet gentle, thunderous yet calming, and appears like a beautiful paradox.

The poetry belongs to Mawlana Jami, a learned Muslim scholar, and it is a homage to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

From start to finish, ‘Tanam’ is a blend of a poetic love that can withstand changing times, a far-reaching sound, crisp production, and a brilliant vocal variety. You just can’t find a moment where the vocals are off-key or its sonic architecture goes off the rails.

Just days after the release of this marvelous, collaborative single, Saakin spoke to Instep about how ‘Tanam’ came to existence from an audio aspect to a visual one.

Those who have seen Saakin live know that they don’t make music meant for boisterous dance value. So, the obvious question lingering in my head is what made Saakin choose this particular kalam.

“This particular kalam,” said Saakin, “beautifully depicts the intensity and condition of a lover to his beloved.”

A profound poetry, it has touched them for a long time, even before its official release.

The idea to collaborate with Zain and Zohaib, says the group, was never a fluke but a decisive one.

It was, says Saakin, built upon the qawwal group’s own brand of music, what they have learned from their lineage and what presumably made the two musical outfits connect on a deeper level. It is also important to note that Saakin carry an open-mind when it comes to working with other musicians and don’t see them as a threat. Then there is the fact that it is composed by Ustad Bahauddin Qawaal and Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“We see Zain Zohaib as one of the best Qawal(s) of our generation. We have been working on ‘Tanam’ for quite a while and have been playing it during our gigs,” says the group. “After discovering a relation between both melodies, we all felt that Zain Zohaib are made to do the Nusrat part of the rendition because of their journey all along.”

When asked about the production credit, Saakin give complete credit to one of the band’s strongest members, Varqa Faraid, and note that he is completely responsible for it.

“Shamsher Rana and Varqa Faraid,” says the rest of the band, “are integral to Attic Productions, and we usually work together, especially on Saakin’s projects. However, due to a hectic schedule this time around, Varqa had to handle the production alone to meet deadlines before his upcoming travel plans.”

For those who don’t know, Attic Productions was founded by the band’s drummer/co-producer, Ibrahim Akram, in 2014 and is a boutique creative studio and recording facility based in Islamabad, Pakistan. “It is an ensemble of seasoned creative professionals with careers spanning decades as producers, composers, and writers for film and television.”

Moving on to other questions such as the song’s stunning music video that carries a sharp aesthetic, it feels like director, filmmaker, theatre artist, writer and actor Sarmad Khoosat brought his A-game to the visuals. Since the band shares a unique bond with Sarmad given that they worked on the music of his film, Zindagi Tamasha, this collaboration was, perhaps, written in the stars.

Noted Saakin, “We feel that Sarmad Khoosat truly loves our music and he once said, ‘I owe you guys a music video’. For ‘Tanam’, we thought to avail this opportunity and Sarmad was kind enough to do it for us.”

While we revel in the mystic magic of ‘Tanam’, we know by now that Saakin are not in the habit of releasing songs faster than we can give them time. But admitted that they do have plans that go beyond their latest release. “Few songs are ready and in the pipeline. We are in a process and trying our best to put Saakin’s music out more frequently,” as they signed off.

Even the music video is an elating journey, created through the lens of Sarmad Khoosat.