Aag’s Khalish was really worth the wait

There are often times that a song’s cover is better than the original or comes close to it. There is a band that has done that twice. Aag has gained acclaim for their amazing renditions of Junoon’s Mitti and Imran Khan’s Bewafa. However, that is only the start of the fire.

Aag has a great collection of originals as well. There is the song Aag which is their debut track, Kafla, Phir Se, Veeran, Janay Tu and the English track Place We Used to Know. The band has entered into the corporate world with shows like Nescafe Basement, Levi’s Live Sessions and Pepsi Battle of The Bands but has always stayed to their original sound which makes Aag worthy of its name.

Aag had been quiet for some time now which made many wonder whether they have burnt out the fire or they are just playing with their fans and waiting to erupt soon. Thankfully it was the latter and we got an energetic Jahil last year. The song was raw and energetic and in addition to its heavy and strong socio-political message, it meant something for Aag as well that they are here to stay and burn everything down literally.

Recently with Khalish, Aag stayed true to their message and brought the song out which had been in the pipeline for some time but it can be forgiven since it was definitely worth the wait and the message is loud and clear that Aag is here to stay.

On the band’s Facebook page, Aag posted regarding the song

“When you are trapped in a dark place and there is seemingly no way out, when you are lost and see no hope, when everything is wrong and nothing makes sense anymore, when you hit rock bottom, is when you truly have a chance to face your fears.

Khalish is a dialogue that one has within him/herself when one realizes that giving up is not an option, and the only way to really overcome all the suffering, is to rise above it all. To forget the world and just keep moving.”

Maybe as per the description of the video, this was what the band had in mind when they released the song. They just decided to not care and released it and it worked out. It does give a positive message to its audiences as well that no matter what you do, don’t give up and keep moving and you’ll reach greater heights. Khalish advises all of us that are in dark places right now that there will come a time in our life that we are able to get out of that place and just keep going. The key is to believe in oneself and not give up.

The way the music video is done, it can be thought of all the things that go around a person’s mind when they have finally had it with everyone and everything that stands in their way and realize that enough is enough and they are not going to care about the way what the world thinks anymore.

Haroon Sheikh is the visionary behind the concept and responsible for the lyrics, composition and video edit/post as well. The text animation has been done by FrontRow Studios. The song was recorded and produced at Ebullition Art Recordings by Usman Sheikh.

It’s wonderful to see the duo of Aag which comprises of brothers Haroon Sheikh and Usman Sheikh who are on lead vocals/guitars and drums respectively create magic once again.

Overall Khalish is a great song to listen to and with songs like that and bands like Aag, it tells you that Pakistan’s music industry is moving in the right direction. What Aag has next in store will be surely worth the wait and the band should remember that no one has forgotten about Yar Daadhi Ishq Aatish and Falling and people deserve to hear those tracks too and more from the band.