Quaid Ahmed isn’t a stranger to the music scene. He worked behind the scenes during the second season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands, along with Sounds of Kolachi (SOK) member Ahsan Bari, and went on to appear with his music group on Coke Studio in its eleventh season. Apart from being involved in composing for the second Sounds of Kolachi album, confirmed by the group’s spearheading force Ahsan Bari, Quaid Ahmed is also going solo in some ways.

He dropped the song, ‘Shamein’ from his debut EP titled Sunlo earlier this year and since then has w­­­orked closely with Laal Series (who also dropped Natasha Baig’s album, Zariya).

One relatively recent release includes ‘Kaise Kahoon’ that features the mighty Natasha Baig with the single written and composed by Quaid himself. “The record label involved in this song includes an American-based label by Hussain Ajani, with whom we have collaborated. Ayaz bhai has produced it; the guitarist on the song is someone who plays with A.R. Rahman and has toured with him and appeared on Coke Studio India.”

The video captures the husky, deep voice of Natasha Baig as she walks along a beach. She sings of having a drowning story and how to explain the inexplicable. As Natasha sings along the beach, with the song accompanied by guitars and tablas, you know this isn’t just one song where a specific instrumentalist is showing off, but letting the words form melancholia-tinged mood. In essence, the song is a very collaborative effort, something that Quaid Ahmed confirmed to Instep.

As for his own singing, post-‘Shamein’, Quaid sang the single ‘Theher Jaa’ featuring Sameer Baig that will not be a part of his debut EP. “It is written and composed by Hassan Ali Effendi,” he told Instep.

The bigger question is what about Quaid Ahmed’s debut EP Sunlo that vanished after releasing just one song. Speaking to Instep, Quaid noted, “Four of the songs had gone for mixing but due to some problems in the middle, I was unable to release the EP. It’s a 5 track EP. In July I had released another song called ‘Theher Jaa’ ft. Sameer Baig under the Laal Series banner with Effendi, who wrote and composed the single.”

As Quaid notes, he will soon release the EP (as soon as he receives the mixed versions of the songs). In the meantime, give a listen to ‘Theher Jaa’ – sung by Quaid Ahmed - and ‘Kaise Kahoon’ – sung by Natasha Baig. As emerging artists go, Quaid and Natasha are evolving into strong vocalists, composers and lyricists. And do watch out for Quaid Ahmed’s EP. It could drop any day now.

Shamoon Ismail to play Salt Arts (season premium) show

On one hand, Shamoon Ismail is picking up awards or getting nominated at ceremonies like Lux Style Awards and SEPMA 2020. On the other hand, he is consistently releasing good music.

From collaborating with polymath Abdullah Siddiqui to the more mainstream Asim Azhar, he’s been quite busy. While the Asim Azhar collaboration, ‘Tum Tum’ is not his finest, ‘Kids’ with Abdullah Siddiqui off the latter’s sophomore album, Metannoya, is a much better effort.

However, it has to be said that Shamoon Ismail is at his best when he drops solo releases. It is obvious in songs like ‘Late Night’, ‘Chal’, ‘Karachi’, ‘Marijuana’ to earlier hits like ‘Jutt Blues’ and ‘Tuntuna’.

Just recently, Shamoon Ismail showed a very diverse side with the song ‘On & On’, his newest single about a relationship, but it’s very nuanced lyrically sonically a subtle dream that complements the song.

Given all that and the strong response Shamoon Ismail got during his previous Salt Art shows - he performed during Super Salt 2019 and followed it up with another concert where he opened for Strings and had the Karachi audience mesmerized - he is now doing a third show with Salt Arts.

The Karachi-based company that recently held a successful show ft. Khumariyaan and SomeWhatSuper will be doing a season premium gig with Shamoon Ismail on November 21, 2020.

To learn more about the concert and how to get your hands on tickets, head over to Salt Arts’ Facebook page that contains further information. Shamoon Ismail is an electrifying performer so if you haven’t seen yet, now is the chance to see the Islamabad-based artist perform live.