Coke Studio releases Beparwah, the tenth song from Season 14, featuring Momina Mustehsan.
Fittingly, the only solo of Coke Studio Season 14 is an intimate conversation. Beparwah is a song for any of us who ask for the protection of a higher power in a moment of crisis.
Calls to divinity have always been a Coke Studio feature. Yet in Beparwah, Associate Music Producer ActionZain, Xulfi and lyricist and composer Adnan Dhool present an evolution. Beparwah’s grand, syrupy sound and delicate arrangements create a soaring anthem, shifting away from the folky arrangements of previous years.
Momina Mustehsan’s honey sweet voice pleads to divinity, asking for a sign that it won’t be careless with her. Song Producers Xulfi & ActionZain build the effect of the universe answering back with gusts of reverb, transforming backup singers into a heavenly chorus. The song is a journey. Ecstatic rushes of sarod, harmoniums, synths and human voices teleport the listener before Momina’s acapella ending drops us back to our state of aloneness. The results are light as air, but also intensely personal.
Momina was moved by the song at first listen, having had parallel experiences in her life. This connection translates in her earnest yet strong vocals. The video, directed by Zeeshan Parwez, features the simply clad singer moving through an enchanted forest. Art Director Hashim Ali Chaudhry’s astonishing recreation of nature reflects an idea that in dialogues with a higher power, all is light and all is love.
Uncertainty and optimism embrace one another in Beparwah; a big, shimmering song that tells us that help is around the corner, if only we ask.
