Aabha Hanjura Brings A New Flavour to Kashmir in ‘Nundbane’
Sufi-folk artist, Aabha Hanjura, has just arrived at the table with a brand new dish: ‘Nundbane’. This stunning tune finds a warm spot on the artist’s most recent album ‘Sound of Kashmir’.
Now coming to the sound and feel of ‘Nundbane’. Creating a firm foundation for Aabha’s vocals are Kashmiri instruments: the santoor, the rabab and the tumbaknari. This steady instrumental piece sets the pace of the entire song. While, Hanjura’s sweet, tinkling vocals arrive in bouts and spurts. Midway through, ‘Nundbane’ takes a dip into Rock with the seamless addition of a striking electric guitar piece. This combination of Sufi, Folk and a pinch of Rock come together to create quite a lovely cocktail.
Interestingly, as Aabha Hanjura has mentioned before ‘Nundbane’ is a song originally meant to be performed melancholically. And yet, her rendition of it takes a completely different turn. Her vocals arrive with a burst of energy, making the tune sound light and charming.
‘Nundbane,’ which translates to ‘apple of my eye’ in Kashmiri, speaks of the overwhelming nature of the region. The song witnesses a series of visual metaphors of the natural beauty of the region and the love one can find when taking a dip into it. In fact, Aabha Hanjura herself went on a family trip to Kashmir and to her childhood home. It was an extremely eye opening and moving journey as it allowed the musician to reacquaint herself with the space. And so the emotion-driven record, ‘Sound of Kashmir’ was crafted out of these very experiences.
Speaking of what she wanted people to takeaway from her music, Hanjura put forward her thoughts while chatting with RJ Neerja on one of our ‘Xperience Sessions’. “My music is varied in that sense, I write a lot of happy music, but I also write a lot of contemplative music,” Aabha said, “You can’t really box me in. But in total I would say, some kind of joy, you know if it made you feel happy, then it’s definitely a job well done at a time like this.”
And we can firmly say that ‘Nundbane’ arrives with just that. This tune is currently available across all streaming platforms.
By: Nina Karun
