This has been quite the year for Anoushey ‘Shae’ Babr Gill. Her Coke Studio single with Ali Sethi, Pasoori, has met unprecedented success. It has been covered in the South African edition of Coke Studio. The original video has 467 million views on YouTube thus far and is listed as the ‘Most Streamed Song’ on Spotify for 2022.

She’s recently collaborated with Hassan and Roshan, a singing and songwriting duo from Lahore whose work (Doobne De) has also been featured in the Ms Marvel series that came out earlier this year. Their single Sukoon [Calm/Peace] has been getting quite a lot of play on the radio, especially during rush hours, perhaps because people often describe how listening to the song gives them sukoon.

While I understand there are many, many people out there that are absolutely crazy about this song, and it’s been very well-produced, I don’t understand the hype. It’s good, but it’s not that good.

But I guess there is space for songs that are not… ground-breaking. Not every song has to have its moment in pop music history. There are those that come in and fill the spaces in between. Those songs that are good to listen to, enjoy in the moment and move on from to the next easily.

Sukoon is one of those songs for me. It’s a beautiful number, but there’s nothing new or exciting about it. This electropop has very strong Vital Signs reimagined vibes from the early ’90s as it begins. One also notices that the male lead singer, Hassan, sings very much in the style popularised by Atif Aslam (he sounds uncannily like him) in the chorus. The song invokes waves of nostalgia and is pleasant to listen to.

Lyrically, the song is simple and easy to sing along to. It’s a slow-paced romantic number, devoid of angst or complicated emotions, celebrating the light, breezy feeling of existing in love.

Case in point, the main chorus (where Hassan sounds the most Atif Aslam-esque):

Tu hi hai sukoon mera/ Tu hi qayaam ve/ Ghar jo savaar de tu/ Barse ga aab ve/ Kabhi tau daraar dil ki/ Paaye gi darya/ Jise dhoondta sadiyon se/ Karay intezar

[You are my peace/ You are my home/ Once you beautify our home/ Waters will flow/ Through the cracks of my heart/ You will find the river/ Who I was in search of/ Will wait]

Shae Gill’s short but impactful cameo is on these lyrics:

Kehdoon main/ Ye binkahi baatein youn/ Sun lay na/ Ye dil ki sada/ Aansoo/ Jaane/ Boltay phir kya/ Gham, koi batladay na

[Should I reveal/ Things that are unsaid?/ Listen/ To the plea of my heart/ Tears/ Knowing/ What do you say then?/ Tell me your woes]

Shae Gill’s little cameo in Sukoon definitely adds a little bit of magic to the song. Listening to it with headphones on and all other sounds isolated, her deep, throaty vocals gave me goosebumps. Some might argue that she’s under-utilised in the song, but her little section is just perfect.

Here’s to listening to Sukoon for now on long daily commutes from and back home.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 25th, 2022