Lahore’s Mughal-E-Funk and Meesha Shafi Deliver Groovy New Song ‘Sakal Ban’

Pairing seismic electronic hues with their brand of sitar-laden grooves, Lahore band Mughal-E-Funk team up with Canada/Pakistan-based singer and actor Meesha Shafi for a glowing new rendition of “Sakal Ban,” originally written by Amir Khusrau. 

With a video that features both artists in a slick setting of mirrors, fog and dancers from the Sway Dance Project, “Sakal Ban” is Shafi’s way of speaking about bloom and growth. Mughal-E-Funk, for their part, were working on the song for about three years. They say in a statement, “Rakae [Jamil, sitarist] was already working on this track […] after seeing a classical rendition of the song and then Kami [Paul, drummer] joined in and added some solid grooves, this is how the track started to shape up.” Bassist Farhan Ali and keyboardist/synth artist Rufus Shahzad added their parts soon enough and the band felt that Shafi’s voice “would do justice to the track and its overall melody.” 

Released via Pakistani label Rearts Records, “Sakal Ban” follows their 2018 EP Sultanat and 2019 single “Jahangir,” both of which delivered a delectable style of funky, soulful fusion. Certainly bearing more electronic elements (additional production on the track is credited to young singer-producer Abdullah Siddiqui), the band says they were able to find a new sound for themselves. “We strongly believe that this is the sound we own, like we don’t really want to call it something purely electronic but electronic music that is completely made from live instruments and that is very much Mughal-E-Funk!” they add. 

Watch the video for “Sakal Ban” below. Stream on more platforms here.