Enough of ‘serious music’, it’s time for a bit of fun. Ali Noor is back with a new, fun, preppy number called Banjo. There’s something very uplifting about how Noor sings. There’s a sense of youthful rebellion, a search for identity, a journey to find oneself, in a lot of the songs he had lent his voice to, as a part of his band Noori, as well as a solo singer.

Perhaps that’s why he’s called in to sing songs for projects focused on travel and adventure of young curious souls. Case(s) in point: he sang the immensely popular title track, Urr Chalay from the soundtrack of the film Motorcycle Girl (2018), a film about a young girl tracing her father’s footsteps and fulfilling his journey of travelling cross-country on a motorcycle and, in the process, finding herself. He also sang Allah Allah Bol from the animated film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor (2018), which was the about a young boy who goes on a journey to save his little markhor friend from poachers. Both of these songs were aimed at younger audiences.

Coming to Banjo, it’s hard not to like an Ali Noor number. He and his brother, Ali Hamza, have a gift of writing music that is not only at times annoyingly catchy, like Banjo itself is, but also has a somewhat universal appeal. Everyone has a favourite Noori song.

Ali Noor’s latest number, Banjo, is an annoyingly catchy song about writing a new song

More than others, it feels like Banjo is a song Ali Noor wrote to inspire himself. The line before and the main chorus go, Rota kyun hai, khud hi kar le/ Baatein na bana, Banjo/ Naya gana bana, naya gana bana, Banjo. [Why cry, do it yourself/ Don’t just talk, Banjo/ Make a new song, make a new song, Banjo.] It goes without saying to anyone who’s listened to the song that ‘banjo’ is a euphemism for a commonly used cuss word in Urdu/Punjabi that can’t possibly be in a family-friendly song in its original state.

This is literally a song about writing a song. That’s one way to try and overcome writer’s block. This electro-pop song has a bit of Ali Noor’s rock music side, but only in the opening riff of the song — which gives off a suspenseful vibe until the beats and the Noor’s soft vocals kick in. They build up to the chorus, where both the music and the vocals suddenly unleash themselves into an explosion of energy. Annoyingly catchy energy.

It won’t become a youth anthem but it’s something you might want to listen to when taking a break from the stresses of everyday life. And if anything, Banjo reveals more of Ali Noor’s quirkier side. After all, why take everything in life so seriously? Dil ka volume khol/ Naya gana bana, Banjo! [Open your heart’s volume/ Make a new song, Banjo!].

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 23rd, 2020