The world of music and the course of how it is sold and distributed has taken a detour in the last decade; the advent of YouTube, and the trend of releasing music and videos via the social network, has both pros and cons for the artists—especially in the context that the sale of physical albums has been almost nullified and for emerging artists, the virtual network has proved to be a boon. It has been interesting to witness how Nepali artists, both emerging and the well-seasoned, are adapting with this modern trend.

The Nepali music scene, however small and not particularly connected to the outside world, has been thriving with this brave new world: There has been a steady flow of great music with tasteful presentation on YouTube. Artists who fuse western-influenced instruments with Nepali traditional bhakas have especially thrived of late. It’s easy to see why most of Bipul Chhetri’s songs are staples in Nepali playlists today. A few months ago, when Bartika Eam Rai took the internet by storm (which has, so far, seen more than 391,000 hits on YouTube), it would be right to note that it epitomised our modern era of music. 

There is a considerable number of promising artists that are showcasing their craft in the Nepali music scene; the band Pahelo Batti Muni, a Kathmandu-based five-piece ensemble (with Bikram Bashyal and Pravesh Thapa Magar on guitars, Dipesh Kunwar on bass, Kiroj Bajracharya on percussions, and Rochak Dahal on vocals), being one of them. If you are not already familiar with the name, then it seems highly likely that you will be hearing their name often in the days to come.

The band’s recent release, Bari Lai, from their upcoming album, has already been seen 18K hits within just two weeks of its release on YouTube and it is easy to see why.

The single is a 4:36 long, guitar-based ballad, with folksy undertones. The lyrics, penned by Dahal himself, is so personal that, as Dahal puts it, recalls an episode of the singer’s own life. But with a theme so universal it is obvious why the song is being received with such excitement.

In the video, directed by Shailendra Paudyal, right from the onset as the protagonist moves ahead, the world around him looks like it is going backwards. Accompanying it is a soothing melody with chords frolicking from A to D. As Rochak Dahal enters with the melodic vocals, “Chichchyayera Bolau Bhane Swarai Sukisakyo”, it starts to become obvious that the song is about something in the past that has been haunting the singer.

To be here now is the simplest and the hardest thing, both at once. There are episodes lodged inside the manifold labyrinths inside our minds that keep coming to the fore. The song is all that—about a certain past that has been lingering on in the singer’s mind. 

And that narrative is woven expertly in the accompanying video: Right from the start, as the camera lingers on the protagonist who is moving ahead, everyone around him is going backwards, until it reverses cryptically towards the end of the song, as the black and white frames suddenly change to colour and the protagonist looks suddenly delighted as if out of the realisation that life has to move on. 

Though the song evokes a largely folksy feel, vocalist Dahal says the band aims to employ rock-based and reggae tunes in the upcoming album which the band aims to release by late November. 

These are heady days for the Nepali music industry. The Bipul Chhetris and the Bartika Rais have already help set deep roots in the virtual world for Nepali music, and now, with this melodious new track by Pahelo Batti Muni, it is obvious that there is much a Nepali music fan has to look forward to.