Jeeva Vrikshathin by Benjamin Mathew

Jeeva Vrikshathin arrived from the Jeeva Vrikshathin album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 2020. Behind the melody is the work of Benjamin Mathew, whose composition choices give Jeeva Vrikshathin its distinctive texture.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Jeeva Vrikshathin, Benjamin Mathew clearly belongs in the second group. a talented ensemble cast are at the heart of Jeeva Vrikshathin, and Jeeva Vrikshathin captures their dynamic at its most compelling.

2020 marked the release of Jeeva Vrikshathin, and Jeeva Vrikshathin was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. Listeners have described the experience of Jeeva Vrikshathin differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

The 6:30 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. Songs like Jeeva Vrikshathin are the reason people fall in love with Malayalam music and never quite fall out of it.