Daily Times

After the overwhelming response of Tu Jhoom, Coke Studio releases the second song from Season 14, KANA YAARI featuring icons Eva B, Kaifi Khalil and Abdul Wahab Bugti.

Betrayal: tough on friendship, great for art. That’s what singer-songwriter Kaifi Khalil proves in beautifully crafted Kana Yaari; a song about relationships that just didn’t last. This is the Coke Studio tune we knew was coming, with futuristic sounds with cultural integrity. Kana Yaari features Kaifi, folk singer Abdul Wahab Bugti who adds Balochi spirit and the magnetic Eva B who always understands the assignment; anchoring Kaifi’s style.

The mix of characters in Kana Yaari makes an interesting point about Coke Studio: it’s a meeting place of opposites. Creating a world for them becomes a team effort. Video Director Jamal Rahman shifts the song’s moody message – honouring it with a hopeful outcome by the last chord. In his video, the artists wander through an interior space, dismantling brightly-coloured walls as if dropping their own invisible boundaries. The song speaks of betrayal, but visually we feel joy.

And it works because the audience can relate. All three performers have incredible personal style, that is unmistakably, un-self-consciously Pakistani. Local spirit shines through Production Designer Hashim Ali’s colour and textural references that feel true to Dera Muraad Jamal and Lyari, the artists’ homes.

Kana Yaari pushes regional representation, but Xulfi and Associate Music Producers and Arrangers Abdullah Siddiqui, Arsalan Hasan and Sherry Khattak don’t stop there. The global, rearview-rattling beats hijack the song; turning Kana Yaari into a Balochi-dancehall blend that can pulse out any car window on a sunny day, from Seaview to South Beach.