Young musician Leon James is only two films old in Tamil filmdom. He made people take notice of his work in his debut Kanchana 2. Now, with KO 2, he makes a loud announcement that he means business.
Here's a quick look into his tracks from the movie starring Bobby Simha and Nikki Galrani in the lead roles.
Kohila
Kohila starts simple on keyboard with Leon himself singing the pallavi. The beat is catchy, thanks to the simplicity again. Leon adds the peppy elements soon enough and makes it a pleasurable listen. The high notes of the song—Kohila Kohila—reminds us of something from the Harris Jayaraj repository, but that feeling does not stay for long. Neeti Mohan joins Leon on the vocals and they sail smooth through the easily likeable number. The veena notes are good on the ears, obviously.
Vidaadha
Looks like Vishal Dadlani is the go-to singer for Tamil music directors now, when it comes to a song that shows off the hero's machoism onscreen. Anirudh Ravichander has been making good use of Vishal's voice and so does Leon now. As expected (which is good for this song), this mild techno song gains more and more energy as it progresses. Just when we are happy with Vishal's powerful vocals and the song arrangement, Leon surprises us with a 'dappan koothu' flavour towards a startlingly good ending to the composition.
Kannamma
Ino Genga's voice is perfect for the mood of Kannamma, a crowd favourite already. The 'baby, baby, drive me crazy (oh yeah!)' sounds cliched, and that is when the super-talented Chinmayi makes for a mellifluous entry into the song in its anupallavi. The flow of her rendering is nothing short of endearing. Leon sticks to the basics and finishes the song aptly.
Unnai Maatrinaal
This song, written by National Award-winning lyricist Na. Muthukumar, is based on the quotes of late former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Soon into the song, we know the best thing about it—Harish Sivaramakrishnan—the gifted singer from the band 'Agam'. Well-supported by Sargam, the children's choir, Harish delivers a spirited rendering. Another neat composition by Leon James.
Kannamma (Reprise)
Salim Merchant of the Salim–Sulaiman composer duo gets behind the microphone to give another version of Kannamma its voice. The slow, moody number rides on his vocals and he is fine, barring the Kannamma portion at the end of the song, where the high pitch goes a wee bit over the top.
This is KO-2 (Instrumental)
The brief thematic composition is nothing extraordinary, but it does what it is supposed to do in 1 minute and 15 seconds.
Verdict
Leon James' compositions sound contemporary and fresh in KO 2, his second outing as music director. Vidaadha and Unnai Maatrinaal are my favourites. You can listen to this one on the go, shake your head and feel the freshness of it; a good enough addition to your playlist.
Listen to the songs here
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