This new song by Machi & Maaz Rathore is a near-perfect cross between English indie rock band The xx and 2010s Pakistanis alternative band Sikandar Ka Mandar.
In particular, I hear glimpses of the pronounced basslines of The xx, who’s albums xx (2009) and Coexist (2012) were moody, catchy, guitar rock. Sikandar Ka Mandar (SKM) was in many ways a flag-bearer for the post-Indus-Music 2010s Pakistani rock scene. Their 2017 album 36, deserves to be heard more than it has so far. The wordplay and vocal tone in this new song are very reminiscent of SKM frontman Nadir Shahzad.
Credit for finding this hitherto unknown song goes to Laila Dodhy. A little inside baseball story is that when we first wrote about Zahoor on Hamnawa it was Laila that had found his breakthrough song, Lafzuna. At that moment no one I knew had come across Zahoor’s music, and this year Zahoor featured on Coke Studio 15.