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New spice to song
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S5, the new pop band from the SS Music Voice Hunt, has come up with their new album Isai
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SS Music's new find: Pop band S5 — Pic: S. Thanthoni
THE FLASHBULBS did it again. The new band was just walking around knowing they'd just released their first music album, feeling suitably self-congratulatory, and otherwise just being their normal humdrum selves. But the minute the press photographers got around them, flashing lights for several blinding seconds, fidgety hands held each other and surprised grins turned to all-teeth confident smiles. Even after the photographers went back to their seats, the flashlights remained — as glints in their eye.
That's all it took. A minute. But S5, the new pop band from the SS Music Voice Hunt, has been working towards this minute for almost six months — not counting the days of auditioning at the Voice Hunt. Their new album, Isai, is a compilation of five songs composed by music director Pravin Mani. Strangely enough, though all the songs are in Tamil, none of the band members are Tamilians! Anaita, from Bangalore, says she and Bhargavi had to work quite hard on their enunciation, because unlike the others, they didn't know any Tamil. Benny and Shwetha, though Malayalees, hail from Chennai, and didn't have it that tough. "We felt Tamil songs would have widest appeal," says Anaita, "But we'll soon record them in Hindi too."
Funky hairdos
As is apparently wont in every young pop band, there is a rapper in S5 too: Arjun, from Kochi. And he's the one who has got the most undefined deal with the hair colour, because "they keep changing it every other day! Maybe it's supposed to reflect my mood. I think it's cool," he says, with appropriate rap-artist head bob and hand swish. Like Arjun, the rest of S5 is quite thrilled about the makeover they've had. As Anaita explains that none of them were averse to changing their look and becoming "pop-bandish", Shwetha stares at a lock of her auburn hair, looks at Bhargavi's deep brown curls, and declares, "I think my hair colour is much, much better than yours, ok?"
Fortunately, in the case of S5, it isn't the wardrobe designer and hairstylist who call the shots. It's the music director, and an elfin band manager called Marie. Which is probably why no one has still bothered to stick the band members with distinct personalities ala Spice Girls (sporty, wild, ginger, and other shudder-inducing personas). And thank all the world's vocal chords for that.
Bhargavi, the only person in S5 who has finished college, is from Hyderabad, and has Carnatic and Hindustani training for 10 and 3 years respectively. This, apart from two years of doing a B.A. in Music, and doing playback for Telugu films. Benny too has trained in Carnatic music for 14 years, and this is evident when the band does an impromptu live performance for the press. For the finishing crescendo, they unleash Benny to do the aalapanai as the rest of the band does the backing vocals. Enough melodic proof.
Belief in voice
Shwetha says that there was only thing they all unanimously said "No" to: "Selling our album through progressive exposure. We believe more in voice than stripping," she says. Arjun adds that none of their numbers are love songs. "We have no I-love-you, girl-you-look-so-beautiful nonsense. It's about nature, attitude, partying... " Although the music isn't path breaking, it is a healthy listen, at least for the clean-crisp feeling of it all. This seems to have worked for them, because Jayaraj, director of the Malayalam movie "4 the people" (which has the smash-hit songs `Lajjavathiye' and `Annakili'), has already promised to have them perform all five songs in his forthcoming movie "By the people".
The five do succumb to the occasional "We love each other", "Music is a great bond" and "We are different" clichés. But it is only when you catch them earnestly practising their "group steps" in the corner of the room before they get on stage for their live performance, do you realise that they've seen the flashlights shine in their eyes, but they're yet to be blinded by them.
ROHINI MOHAN
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