Khamaj Fuzon

Some songs are best not categorised as classical, pop, jazz, or fusion, simply because that would be restrictive. One such song is ‘Khamaj’ by Fuzon. The track, from the Karachi-based band’s 2002 debut album, Saagar, opens with its dulcet ‘harpsichord’ piano-guitar notes, only to rise up in slow smoke in the mesmerising vocals of frontman Shafqat Amanat Ali.

The opening words, ‘Sawan beeto jaye peeharwa/ Mann mera ghabraaye/ Aiso gaye pardes piya tum/ Chain hume nahi aa aaye’ (Monsoon is passing by, my love/ My mind grows restless/ I find no peace of mind,’ sets the tone in this modern Meghdutam. The restlessness is infectious.

The song is a beautiful reinterpretation of raga Khamaj, with its delicate sonic filigree.

The ghatam taps out a beat like a never-resting memory. The song, like in a western rondeau, wonderfully repeats patterns and refrains, the simplicity of which is bewildering.

As Shafqat complains, ‘Mora saiyaan mo se bole na/ Main lakh jatan kar haari…’ (My love doesn’t speak to me/I tried a lakh things, but I lost…), the tune lingers long after the song ends.