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Siennor Trio’s album ‘Ninaivu Maaligai’ surprises listeners with its dynamic shifts, blending Tamil funk, post-punk, and alt-pop. Each track offers a unique experience, from bold electric guitars to harmonium solos, creating a musical journey that demands attention and rewards intent listening.
Chennai based band, Siennor Trio’s latest album, ‘Ninaivu Maaligai’ takes you by surprise. You expect it to be one thing and it very quickly morphs into something completely different.
From the way it begins with a spoken intro introducing ‘Ninaivu Maaligai’ which translates to Palace of Memories, this album is for anyone who likes to listen to music with intent, because this album does jolt you a little. I first listened to it while I was making my morning breakfast, and as I absent mindedly flipped my omelette I was I was immediately shaken by the insane switch up ‘Vaa’, the album’s second song that starts off quite softly and then movies into this rock sequence with electric guitars and a loud and bold percussion set, setting the tone for what the rest of the album will sound like, unchained and not restricting itself to anything.
And this electric guitar and percussion is used across the album in different ways, with the occasional harmonium popping up. Like in Muguthai Surukki where it leans into a more post-punk and alt poppy way and meanwhile Sambalam talking about how expensive everything is, almost sounding like a mix of a bhajan and a Tollywood song from the 90s.
Iru Vizhigalile is an almost eleven minute long song. An anomaly in the current music economy where songs are purposefully made to become reel or TIkTok audios. It sounds like a movie almost, starting slow as it builds tempo gradually almost, with a harmonium solo coming into the second act of the song. It starts to build urgency and tension with the accompanied drums, coming to a crescendo and dwindling softly like a wave falling onto the beach. And it has your attention throughout, something even my dopamine addicted brain couldn’t stop paying attention to.
The accompanying music video for the most funk-poppy song on the album, ‘Oru Dhum’, is as absurd and fun as the song itself. Featuring the trio in animal masks from horses to monkeys, the song carves a space for Tamil funk, something we haven’t seen in the genre. It’s a short song but it stays in your head. You might not know Tamil, but that guitar loop along with the catchiest spoken verse lyrics is hard not to become an ear worm.
Ninaivu Maaligai demands your attention, and then rewards you for giving it. By the end, I had long forgotten my omelette. A palace of memories, it turns out, is a fitting name because it’s a place you wander through, not knowing which room comes next, and one you’ll want to walk through again just to see what you missed. Siennor Trio have made an album that refuses to sit politely in the background, and I’m glad it didn’t.
Listen to the album here.
