In the middle of all of the pop bangers being released one after the other in the second season of Velo Sound Station, is a heartbreaking number by one of the most popular artists on Pakistan’s music scene: Shamoon Ismail. The song in question? Pardesi.

The artist was first featured on the VSS stage in the first season. His song Confetti was the second-most streamed song from that season on Spotify. The first was Meesha Shafi’s cover of the iconic Nazia Hasan classic Boom Boom. With the second season currently unfolding, the most streamed song from VSS is now Atif Aslam’s Kadi Te Has Bol with Confetti now in a very respectable third place.

Returning to the VSS stage, Shamoon Ismail delivers a sombre, emotional performance in Pardesi. The song has been written, composed and produced by Shamoon, who retains complete control of his productions.

True to his signature style, Pardesi is a song that strips away the layers, musically and lyrically, to reveal its bare soul. There are no cool, invasive samples on loop. The music is soft and structured in a way as to allow you to focus on Shamoon’s vocals.

In Pardesi, Shamoon Ismail is cutting himself loose from a toxic relationship and moving on

In some of his songs, Shamoon Ismail sings in a way as if he’s speaking quietly only to you, the listener, and only you are privy to his private, innermost thoughts and feelings. There’s an atmosphere of intimacy built into the song — something he’s done in some of his earliest releases, such as Khayal (2018) from his Cookie EP.

In Pardesi, Shamoon is cutting himself loose from what seems to be a toxic relationship. What sets this song apart from his previous break-up songs is that this one doesn’t seem to have a lot of angst, just plain acceptance that this won’t work out. And the pain that follows giving himself completely to the one who broke his heart.

Main dena nae aitebaar/ Karna ni koi sawal/ Te la liya dil tere naal/ Kon kare intezaar

[I won’t give my trust/ No questions will be asked/ I gave my heart to you/ Why wait?]

The pre-chorus indicates that this is the mother of all break-up songs:

Tera…/ Yaad meri rakh le kol/ Lab le ja ke hor/ Jo torray na dil tera

[You…/ Keep my memories close/ Go find someone else/ Who won’t break your heart]

While the chorus speaks about not having a reason to stay anymore:

O Pardesi/ Rawan da nae ae pata/ Main pardesi/ Na ruknay di koi waja

[O’ foreigner/ Don’t know where the path leads/ Me, foreigner/ I have no reason to stop]

This isn’t the first time he’s speaking about heartbreak or the trials and tribulations of love. He’s covered similar sad and angsty themes in Khayal, Friday and a host of other songs.

It’s good to have Shamoon Ismail back in the music scene. As an artist he tends to take long breaks in between his releases. While we’re going through a phase of some very excellent releases in electro-pop, it’s nice to slow down and listen to a song like Pardesi. One looks forward to what else the artist has on offer for the rest of this year.

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 18th, 2023