Lai Lik Lei and their debut "Esei"

Ningombam Captain *

'Esei'

Artist: Lai Lik Lei
Genre: Indie folk
Release date: 19th February, 2018
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

We can keep count in hand with utter ease of all the Manipuri songs written for a ukulele - for there are not much. It is no wonder though; but for a Hawaiian instrument introduced by Portuguese immigrants in the early 1900's, being incorporated in the songs of a regional language on the other face of the earth, we can say that it has been used fairly frequently.

Leading in the wave of sonic experimentations inculcated by the myriad of indie bands in Manipur, largely in the folk genre, Lai Lik Lei performed their debut song "Esei" live for A House and a Guitar, months before it's wide release along with an official music video on YouTube, garnering much praise from the viewers.

Indeed, Lai Lik Lei's music video for the song, directed by Edwin Haorokcham who also happens to be the band's vocalist and guitarist, is a conspicuous deviation from the mainstream Manipuri music videos that we see on TV. Most viewers on YouTube feel relieved to find it totally devoid of the general mundanity of music videos (acquired and repeated frequently) characterized by a choreographed display of lovers of the opposite sexes, played by lip-syncing actors in a scenic background.

The video of "Esei" is something else; presented as an elaborate teaser for an upcoming film (also devoid of mundanity in the Manipuri context) named "Iriguchi", which is about a man accidentally uncovering a secret experiment conducted by the Japanese soldiers in Imphal during WWII. Yes, you read that right. It is a Manipuri sci-fi film, avoiding the clutches of cliché. I am not generalizing predictable film plots but expect no hardworking good guy who is miraculously proficient in karate chops, getting the rich girl who is pursued by a bad guy literally on the latest motorcycle model, owing to his rich dad.

The song "Esei" is built in the scale of F major on around 118 bpm. The trademark opening riff played on the ukulele is technically a suspended extension of the F chord. The vocal performance is somewhat inclined to a baritone register. The 'Frank Sinatra-ic' vocal timbre is not so common for a ukulele instrumentation.

However, Lai Lik Lei managed to make the vocals homogeneous with the ukulele. The harmonica solo in the midway of the song is reminiscent of a Bob Dylan folk attribute. The drums by Ravi Yengkokpam are not extraordinary, but compliments the song fairly well. The sparse instrumental layers including the backing vocals are judicious yet melodic. The harmonica outro embraces the entirety of the song like an envelope.

Moreover, the lyrics speak about finding one's destiny and the transit to a promised land with music being the protagonist's refuge. The speciality of the song is that, the ukulele is made to sound like an indigenous Manipuri folk instrument by adding licks with sudden pull-off's in minor pentatonic. Such is the sonic wizardry of Lai Lik Lei.

The accompanying music video makes the song more special and memorable. In the video, the protagonist accidentally finds a box containing a map and embarks on a journey, and encounters more stranger objects, which all serve as heightened MacGuffins for the viewers; like that mysterious suitcase in Pulp Fiction, remember? Memorable indeed.

Another interesting feature is when we find the stop motion shot of the character before being teleported through the weird camera. This reminds me of Edwin Haorokcham's creation dating four years back: the music video of Singju Joint's "Lit Up The Sky". His editing skills and technical proficiency was shown through that cool Captain America action figure scene, shot in the tiresome stop motion cinematic technique. I strongly believe that in the future, people will definitely look up and praise the aforementioned video and the efforts even more.

Honestly, the song "Esei" is eclipsed by their newer composition called "Lost in Dzuko", first performed live for Sound Check. The instrumental compositions of the two songs are pole-opposites. The former is a ukulele anthem whereas the later is an ethereal escapade of alternative rock sounds.

A listener who is exposed to their track "Esei" only, will probably conclude that Lai Lik Lei is an indie folk band. But this image is altered with "Lost in Dzuko", a post-rock instrumental song. Not that the songs are bad, but the band seems to be facing an identity crisis or not settled with a definite originality.

If one of this diagnosis is not the case, then it will be a little strange until and unless they were a virtual rock band with the character mascots dwelling in an elaborate sonic environment while suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Well, a conclusion cannot be drawn right here because we have not witnessed what Lai Lik Lei has in store or what they can offer in an album or an EP yet.

Personnel:
Thomas Laishram - guitar
Edwin Haorokcham - vocal
Siddartha Thokchom - vocal/guitar
Ravi Yengkokpam - drums
Shivanker Laishram - bass