Pakistan’s biggest music export, Coke Studio, is gearing up for its fourteenth season and in doing so is reinventing its identity, visually and sonically after formidable producers including co-founder Rohail Hyatt and Strings among others let it rise to unseen highs and lows. News about the upcoming version of the music series – which is being produced by Xulfi – continues to unfold.

Confirmed artists reflect a balance of both prominent names and newer ones. As Instep reported earlier, the artists who will feature this season for certainty, according to sources close to the production, will be Atif Aslam, Momina Mustehsan, Veeru Shan, Zain Ali, Soch, Karakoram, Young Stunners, Eva B, Faisal Kapadia, Hasan Raheem and Justin Bibis. And, because the season will be shorter, consisting of 12 to 13 songs, there will be some intriguing collaborations. Another essential artist who is part of the season is Talal Qureshi.

Among other major changes, the series that is available digitally and across broadcast channels is going in an electronic and synthpop direction. One example is the fact that there is no bass player in the season. As songs will have distinctive sets, they will also have different directors. Among confirmed directors are names like Jamal Rahman, Zeeshan Parwez, Murtaza Niaz and Kamal Khan, with the latter possibly directing two videos instead of one.

Rap element is a predominant theme in several songs with Atif Aslam also rapping in at least one song. A glimpse of the ferocious season can be seen in the collaboration between ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and Coke Studio with the on-air track, ‘Cricket Khidaiye’ featuring Atif Aslam, Faris Shafi and Talal Qureshi. What a firecracker the TVC is. We’re sold.

Asad Ahmed releases ‘A Touch of Divinity’

Among the most formidable names in music, Asad Ahmed has embraced the formula upon which the indie music industry runs; he is consistently releasing new music.

Once associated with musical names such as Awaz, Vital Signs, Karavan, Haroon, and even the early years of Coke Studio, Asad is also pursuing his own musical, organic odyssey.

From Rebirth to Severe Cuts, Ascension, Asad has now formed what is a dedicated audience. To that end, he’s just released his second single, ‘A Touch of Divinity’ from his fourth LP called A Cosmic Intervention. Diametrically different compared to the first single, ‘The Funk Of 1000 Years’ off the LP, it is as Asad had told Instep earlier, “The album takes on many different sonic ambitions journeys”.

Talking about the new single, Asad said in a statement, “Initially I wanted to release a live album as I already had 3 albums to choose from. Instead I decided that another full length release was in order so I started recording in Dec 2020 and wrapped up around May 2021. A Touch Of Divinity is a moody track that really defines my ability not only as a guitarist but also as a composer and producer. These are two hats that I wear proudly. This time around the approach to release is very different. I will be putting out three singles and then compiling them into an album.”

Asad has the momentum and it’s quite a flirtation with sounds that define music today as well as its preceding eras.

Maanu releases ‘close 2 u (feat. Rozeo)’

After crafting a remarkable effort with his album, Yain City as well embracing vibrant collaborations with other equally remarkable artists such as Abdullah Siddiqui, Hasan Raheem, Talal Qureshi, Taha G, Mujji, Arkhum as well as co-producers on his last track, Zahra Paracha’, the rapper is back with his newest single ‘close 2 u (feat. Rozeo)’.

The thing about Maanu is you never know what you’ll get. He can go from being melancholic to jovial. This song that is a part of Sakuna Matata, implies that this is material from his next LP. Musically slower than a lot of electronic music that comes out these days and actually complements the song in its light lo-fi nature. There is a sense of romance and a lot less intensity as has been the case with preceding releases. Almost like a surprise (if you like them) or based on pure observance, ‘close 2 u (feat. Rozeo)’ is a rap-song but its core is romance. The story of one lost without the other.

Directors Zain Peerzada and Luke Azariah capture the nature of the song and present a narrative that matches the audio landscape exceedingly well. They’ve done it before and it’s a great sight to how the independent music scene is flourishing as artists work together from different bands in different roles and so on.