Swarnakkili by Kannur Shareef

Few songs from 2020 have held their ground as well as Swarnakkili, a track that keeps finding new audiences. The arrangement here is the work of Sulaiman Tanur, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

Kannur Shareef brings a warmth to Swarnakkili that no production choice could manufacture — it has to be felt, and here it is. Hearing Swarnakkili without thinking of a talented ensemble cast is almost impossible for anyone who has seen Swarnakkili.

Released in 2020, it arrived at a time when Malayalam music needed exactly this kind of sincerity. There is no right time to listen to Swarnakkili. There is only the moment you press play and realise it was the right choice.

The concision of Swarnakkili — just 5:16 — is part of what makes it work. There is nothing here that should not be. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Malayalam in recent memory — and the numbers agree.