Thennal Nilavinte by Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aparna Balamurali, Shaan Rahman

Thennal Nilavinte arrived from the Thennal Nilavinte album and quickly became one of the most replayed tracks of 2016. The production by Shaan Rahman is understated in the best way — supportive without overshadowing the vocal.

What sets this recording apart is how Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aparna Balamurali, Shaan Rahman handles the emotional weight — never overplaying, never holding back. For fans of Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vijayaraghavan, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Rajini Chandy, Lena Aparna Balamurali, Thennal Nilavinte is one of those songs that immediately conjures specific scenes and emotions.

By the end of 2016, Thennal Nilavinte had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. Listeners have described the experience of Thennal Nilavinte differently — romantic, melancholic, uplifting — which suggests the song is large enough to hold many truths.

Running to 3:54, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.