Published 19:58 IST, April 21st 2020
Indian Ocean pays tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's qawwali in their latest song
The indie band Indian Ocean recently released their latest song, which was a remake of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's iconic qawwali 'Akhiyan Udeek Diyan'
Remaking old classic songs is one of the newest trends in the Indian Music Industry. The indie band, 'Indian Ocean', is known for its brilliant rock music and is beloved by many for its unique modernisation of iconic Indian songs. Recently, Indian Ocean remade the classic Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song, Akhiyan Udeek Diyan.
Indian Ocean remakes Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's iconic classic Akhiyan Udeek Diyan
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's original Akhiyan Udeek Diyan was a beautifully crooned qawwali that is often considered a classic of Indian music. While Indian Ocean is known for its rock music, the band still did an amazing job of keeping the spirit of qawwali intact in their Akhiyan Udeek Diyan remake. Of course, Indian Ocean did modernise the song by adding elements of their recognizable psy-rock style.
Members of Indian Ocean also talked about their new song with a news portal. Percussionist-vocalist, Amit Kilam, said that he felt qawwali was the earliest form of "trance music". Indian Ocean also opened up about their inspiration for this song. Bandmember Rao stated that he looked at the collaborations of Canadian guitarist Michael Brook and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He also talked about how Nusrat Saab produced his qawwalis in the Western fusion context.
The audio for Indian Ocean's Akhiyan Udeek Diyan was recently released on Youtube. The song already has over 16 thousand views. Despite the predominant trend of short songs only 2-3 minutes long, Indian Ocean's latest release is over 11 minutes long. The remake also mixes the original chorus written by Khwaja Pervez with Khwaja Ghulam Farid’s exquisite Sufi poetry. The song is also available for download, as well as streaming, on all platforms.
Updated 19:58 IST, April 21st 2020