Do
you want to walk out of the theater as proudly as a directorial debutant,
whose film
smells success in the premiering day?
If so Amen: A divine comedy
is a decent bet .The soundtrack and the music score are as I must say.
Vibrant.
1."Aatmavin...”
The
title song of the movie. Complicated harmony of the piece,
the syncopated finger
snapping and
mild techno bass along with rhythmic,
audible lyrics. The motif serves as an
apt curtain raiser and closer.
2."Solamanum Shosanayum..."
Impressively
articulated Vocals of newcomer Preeti Pillai
and Shreekumar (of
whom we are familiar from the seductively nasal voice in the hummable hit
"Anuragavilochananayi")
present a lovely treat for new generation melody lovers as well as 70's Malayalam listeners.If it weren't for
the clarinet soloing the soulful love ballad would have lacked
completion. The sampling has even captured the clicks on the fingerboard of the
woodwind .In spite of
the artificial reverb effect
that runs
throughout the song,
the listener
will feel transported;
to Kumarankari backwaters,
and surely the refrain
humming which combines,
vocals and
the instrument,
is as
good as any lullaby.
3."Pampara
pa pa...”
An offbeat muted rhythm guitar riff and in sync female doo-wop builds up the mood
of the song throughout its play.
This
number reminds us of a lot of other brawl songs like "Padakaali...”
the snare drum attack we would usually associate with
a marching band adds the finishing stroke to this brawl song.
4."Vattoli...”
Anachronism
is too obvious in the album,
with techno
and post modern styles background scoring a story which seems to be set in a
lesser recent timeline. But this song takes anachronism to its peak. Veteran Lucky
Ali's breathy voice,
and rapper-styled
diction creates a comical yet admirable portrait of Fr.Vincent Vattoli.The bluesy offbeat guitar slap and walking bass line rhythm
will set any one swinging and foot tapping
5."Karuthiku thitai…"
Totally
agreeing with the title of the song. Borrowing heavily from the "Chavittu naadakam",
this is one another song that connects with the background and setting of
the Cinema<
An
insight into the brawl between the two sides:
The modest,
and the
extravagant. It is also worthwhile to mention the drum line and harmonica,
jazzy chord
structure and the salsa style
rhythm in the piece makes
one wonder,
is the Malayalee losing
his musical interest to foreign notes and signatures?
6."Meen…"
In
the movie,
this song
is being sung by a dreamy ‘Madame' who
is charmed by Fr.Vattoli, maybe that’s why
the director chose Delhiite Alyssa Mendoza
7."Spirit of
Amen”
The
last song of the album. A lot of ideas have been implemented in this number,
a could-have-been-heart
thumping drum track,
sudden shift
to Angel Voiced church song, and even
a square synth+flanger vox solo. Sadly,
this piece
has been overshadowed by the better pieces of the album.
Conclusion:
Enjoyable soundtrack
which mergers with the humor of
the story. In a broader sense,
songs capture
a variety of emotions,
and thankfully
one of the few Malayalam movies
that never used dense String sections to convey the entire emotional spectrum.
The cowboy-rodeo/Mexican style
riffs used in slow motion scenes,
the Angel
Voice-"Hallelujah"
chorus are cliches< in innumerous English flicks >yet
managed to get rounds of applause. The sound mastering is perfect,
(and at
times too perfect) with brawl song choruses syncing perfectly,
which spoiled
the reality of the scene. The addition of the clarinet solo piece "Estappans final
song"(named so by yours truly) would have taken the album from Entertainer,
to Masterpiece
status.
Besides such minor
glitches, Amen soundtrack,
as described
by the creators is in all sense, "A Divine Comedy" .
