Mekaal Hasan Band's second album is totally worth the wait

Mekaal Hasan Band's second album is totally worth the wait

Saptak
Artist: Mekaal Hasan Band
Label: EMI Virgin
Price: Rs 195
Rating: ***u00bd

Few bands have been able to craft the precision of jazz and the richness of classical music together to produce an immensely appealing sound as Pakistan's Mekaal Hasan Band has. The nine-year-old band's second album Saptak that released late last year, and hit the shelves here only last month, is a bolder step forward.

Saptak opens with the Bulleh Shah number Chal Bulleya. It's a nice, slow tempo track but doesn't showcase the band members' strengths really. And as I realised much later, vocalist Javed Bashir's soul-on-fire vocals are best shown off in Mahi, that also has some powerful bass lines that instantly suck you into the track. The searing guitar lines by Mekaal in Bandeya are also encore worthy.

Besides Mahi, Bhageshwari is another track that keeps you hooked on if you're a sucker for bass like I am. Bassist Amir Azhar lays his chops down nice and hard.

Although Ranjha sounds like a great live track, itu00a0 dips on disc because the guitar jangle is way too high and Javed's vocals fail to get the rush going. Flautist Mohammed Ahsan Papu who blends into the background on stage makes the cut as an incredibly versatile artisteu00a0-- listen to Huns dhun and Chal Bulleya to grasp his range.

Star percussionist Pete Lockett guesting on Albaella also features towards the end of the album. You'd recall having heard a version of this in the Bollywood flick Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Two tracks from Sampooran, MHB's fantastic debutu00a0-- Waris Shah and Sanwalu00a0-- make a reappearance on Saptak. Although they're both big concert hits, it's strange to use them to perk up the second album.
Frontman Mekaal is consistent, keeps the arrangements tight, and the production almost flawless except for Ranjha.

Now this is a band we'd pay to watch every single time.u00a0