Agnee, the renowned rock band rooted in Indian melodies, has recently collaborated with acclaimed lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya for their latest release, ‘Mallaah’ (Boatman). The rock ballad takes listeners on a journey of self-discovery and introspection. The music video was released on Merchant Records as the first offering of the SoundChk Series.
Mallaah captures the quintessential Agnee sound combined with Bhattacharya's lyrical genius. The song uses metaphors of the Mallaah, representing a protector, a saviour, a confidante, and the embodiment of the salvation we all seek in our own ways. Join the Mallaah as he guides us on a transformative journey of finding ourselves.
Originally conceived as a love song during the composition process, Mallaah took a philosophical turn, delving deeper into the realms of self-discovery. The powerful lyrics and soul-stirring melodies create a unique rock ballad experience that showcases the creative synergy between Agnee and Bhattacharya.
Speaking about the song, guitar player and one of the founding members of Agnee, Koco said, "Initially, when the song was being made, I came up with the dummy word “Saiyyaan” and the song was a romantic ballad. But when Amitabh came in, he took the song in a completely different direction with “Mallaah” and it turned into a philosophical song. Hrishi and Chirayu also insisted on playing on the song even though I had programmed drums and bass already, and that just brought the entire Agnee personality to the song. Another interesting fact about the song is that we went through four or five tempo changes throughout the track and this was to incorporate what we like to call a “live feel”. While the song sounds seamless and it is difficult to catch the tempo changes in one listening, when you listen to the song on repeat, you would realise that the song starts at a much slower tempo than what it ends on. We’re really looking forward to performing this on stage at our Agnee gigs soon!"
Vocalist Mohan Kannan said, "I’m extremely thrilled to collaborate with Amitabh and with Salim and his team on this one. When Salim asked us if we wanted to be part of SoundChk, we had no hesitation in saying yes. Along the way, we found out that the entire team at Merchant Records, starting with Shivansh, is made up of musicians and that shows in their excitement, involvement and genuine interest in making a product the best it can be. Tushar, the director, and his team are just the same. It’s always an absolute pleasure to work with such people, and the end result is always better when everyone contributes with such honesty. Overall, we’re very happy with the song and the video and hope everyone likes it too!"
Mallah is available on Salim Sulaiman’s YouTube channel and on all audio streaming platforms.