Junaid's website describes him as a multi-instrumentalist producer who is "in love with all good honest forms of Art." That love reflects in his music too.
I claim that my favourite film is Midnight in Paris. In the film, the character who plays Ernest Hemingway famously says "good prose is honest prose." The sentiment has stuck with me. I seek creative honesty in things around me and in Tajdar Junaid's music, it is beautifully apparent.
Although released in 2013, I only recently discovered What Colour is Your Raindrop and I am better for it. The track I present to you is Mockingbird, one of the few lyrical tracks on the album. It is so gorgeously layered. When I introduced it to a close friend of mine soon after having heard it myself, he told me that if he were ever to describe my sound to someone, this track would be it. As you can imagine, I was joyed to hear that.
The track lays the truth bare for the listener to know and discover. From the simple guitar strumming to the more nuanced Sarangi (a seldom heard instrument anymore) that lends the track a flavour of nostalgia-tinged happiness. "I'll fly yet I know I can't/ I'll move on, yet I know I can't." How often do we find ourselves confessing this as the truth? In 2019, such carefully constructed delicacies are rare.
This week, with the help of Tajdar Junaid, treat yourself to some honesty.
You can learn more about Tajdar Junaid here:
About the curator - Aarushi Aggarwal
Aarushi is a senior at college and is majoring in history and international relations. Her music library is as much home to jazz as it is to Indian classical. Her passion for discovering new music far supersedes other equally important things like finishing assignments on time. She loves dogs, coffee and chocolate.
