No magic in '13B' music

The trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, contrary to its image, have not experimented as much as they usually do for the soundtrack of Vikram Kumar's film "13B" that stars R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra in the lead. With simple lyrics and an average score, there is nothing extraordinary to look forward to in the album.

"Aasma odh kar" sees Shankar Mahadevan taking centrestage, with Chitra providing ample support with her unique voice. The song is a regular soft, soothing number that is dominated by the keyboard.

The song also has a remix version. Mixed by DJ Gulraj Singh, the number gets a new lease of life with the drums and keyboard.

Kartik takes over the microphone in "Bade se shehar mein", a song soaked in melody. A hummable rendition, "Bade se..." is warmer to the ears than "Aasma odh kar" but the two do sound similar. The song is nevertheless a decent listen.

DJ Shane, who has worked on the remix version of the song, has instilled life into the number without altering too much from the original.

In "Oh sexy mama", Anushka Manchanda and Loy Mendonsa team up with Baba Sehgal. In spite of Anushka's crisp and impressive vocals, the track that aims to be a chartbuster is ordinary and offers nothing out of the box.

Even the remix version is nothing special.

"Sab Khairiyat Hai" is very similar to the other slow-paced songs in the album. The track that is just over a minute long is uninspiring. The lyrics by Neelesh Misra and vocals by Shankar fail to make an impact. This track sounds like a poor cousin of "Aasman odh kar" and "Bade se shehar mein".

The soundtrack of the film also has an instrumental piece called "13B theme", which augurs well with the general feel of the album.

On the whole, the album is easily one of the mediocre creations of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The music is not bad but there is hardly any freshness or experimentation in the soundtrack.

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13B