Kanninullil Nee by M. Jayachandran, Najim Arshad, Rajeev Nair

Few songs from 2024 have held their ground as well as Kanninullil Nee, a track that keeps finding new audiences. M. Jayachandran's arrangement gives the track a layered quality that rewards repeated listening.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Kanninullil Nee, M. Jayachandran, Najim Arshad, Rajeev Nair clearly belongs in the second group. Hearing Kanninullil Nee without thinking of Anoop Menon, Bhavana is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Kanninullil Nee.

2024 marked the release of Kanninullil Nee, and Kanninullil Nee was the track that ensured the album would be remembered. There is a quality to Kanninullil Nee that makes it feel like company — the kind of song you put on when words feel insufficient.

The 4:42 runtime feels perfectly judged — long enough to develop its ideas, short enough to compel a second play. The track stands as evidence that M. Jayachandran, Najim Arshad, Rajeev Nair and M. Jayachandran, working together, are capable of something well above the ordinary.