How Lucky Ali And Mikey McCleary's Converging Paths Led Them To ‘Intezaar'

The seasoned pop singer-composer team return for the first of more new songs and an album

- Anurag Tagat

A whole year prior to the global pandemic, Lucky Ali says he felt a tremor of dread about the future. “I just felt that the world is going to stop,” the veteran singer and composer says over a Zoom call. The ensuing lockdowns and feelings of isolation may have persisted across the world, but Ali says that even in resting and in silence, there can be healing. “Music comes after the healing,” he adds.

With longtime associate and composer-producer Mikey McCleary, new songs emerged with the same rustic yet enchanted flourish of some of their greatest hits, including “O Sanam” from the 1996 album Sunoh. The first new material – part of an upcoming album – is “Intezaar,” which nimbly plays up the folksy pop Ali is known and loved for. “This is the first of many songs that are going to come out as a compilation. It’s an album, but we’ll be releasing it one song at a time. Then once five or six videos are out, we will compile it and present it as an album,” Ali says.

Accompanied by a music video directed by Bengaluru-based Lendrick Kumar, a story of “greater love,” hope and persistence plays out over McCleary’s sparkling, subtly dramatic production. True to McCleary’s years of grinding it out in the Indian music world and floating his project The Bartender, there’s a horn section and rich guitar melodies to drive “Intezaar” and its affectionate lyrics, co-penned by I.P. Singh (from rock act Faridkot).