Malayalis’ concept of music has always revolved around cinema. Between cursing the movie industry for having a monopoly over the regional music scene and using it as a catalyst to earn a reputation, singer/songwriter Job Kurian chose the latter. Twelve years after being introduced to our sitting rooms through a television reality show, his voice has immortalised some popular tunes such as Aaranne Aarane from Urumi and the recent Thaa Thinnam from Theevandi.
However, ask him about the most prized moments from his career and he would become verbal about personal releases like the album Thaalam. “Independent music has no filter and is the most expressive form for a musician. It’s a challenging process and putting out a new track is a struggle,” says Job, joking about the pains of finding a producer for albums (most of whom have their own agendas), as we engage in a conversation after the release of the third track Mulla from his Hope project.
The new age
Conceived over three years ago, the above mentioned five-track endeavour has never been called an album by Job. “We’re not releasing Hope in any traditional format (like a CD), as of now. People’s approach to music consumption has changed and the listeners have short attention spans. Only one or two tracks from a collection stick with people but I want each of them to get equal attention,” says the singer.
Proving his words right, the first release from Hope titled Enthavo has accumulated 1.6 million views on YouTube in just over a year.
“Every song is created out of something that has had an impact on my life. They are also born out of visual images and so we’d like each one to be accompanied by a video,” informs the 36-year-old. To point, with a storyline and even colour tones, the videos have aided the songs including the one for Enthavo which features actor Fahad Faasil.
Reliving childhood
The latest representative of the Hope project is the third track Mulla; the second one this year with Parudeesa released earlier. “The shrub is widely found across our state and I feel that it has witnessed my childhood,” he says, about the video release which shows snippets from a young boy’s life in a village.
Following an old-school ideal, the song has been recorded by a band—including members Mithun Puthenveettil, Samuel Leo, Sonu Prasad, Sunil Silvester and Ben Sam Jones—playing live in the studio. Even though Job says he has no idea when the last two songs (Kaalam and Hey) in the series are gonna come out, the team is working out the logistics for a US tour in November.