‘Zaeden 02’ Struggles to Break Free from the Comfort of Familiarity
The album fails in its attempt to stick to a working formula while remaining dynamic in its identity
Courtesy of Represent
Much of the excitement and allure towards mainstream pop these days falls adamantly left of center. Chappell Roan took us all to a session in theatre camp; Charli XCX quite literally painted the club green with Brat. Even in more homegrown similarities, there are avenues of modern Indian pop (or I-Pop as it is now beginning to be termed as) that exemplify a desire to break the mold. Whether that is someone like Diljit Dosanjh taking the leap of faith in trap culture and West Coast Hip Hop, or even someone like Rashmeet Kaur marrying her Punjabi roots with more up-to-date tastes, it’s only too easy to view Zaeden’s recent album Zaeden 02 as the work of a music establishment clumsily shifting gears to follow in their wake.
The response sparked by the young singer-songwriter’s single “5 am”, which found its place on the album, was split between excitement over the heartthrob’s latest swooning melody and eye-rolling over what seems to be an Instagram-reel-driven marketing strategy rather than a robust musical endeavor. If you don’t believe me, you can refer to the five-track compilation consisting of “5 am”, “5 am – lofi”, “5 am – slowed”, “5 am – sped up” and, of course, “5 am – instrumental”. Lest the algorithm forgets that the voice attached to the track actually seems to matter to audiences—besides the ones making Zaeden thirst reel edits, of course.
Zaeden 02, whose title attempts to portray an inward sense of artistic evolution, is a collection of tracks that seem to be cemented in the year 2012. While the artist does stick true to his EDM roots—which are clearly Zaeden’s strongest, this album desperately required a set of ears grounded to the year 2024. The album opens with a one-and-a-half-minute intro track, which is a melodic crescendo that succeeds in setting the tone for the rest of the project. The tone, however, does come across as a Mykonos beach club disguised as a road trip to Lonavala.
The track “kya hua?” is a welcome mid-album respite, which sees Zaeden shining in what he has continued to excel at: offering a catchy melody over a simple backing instrumental. In the case of this track, he is joined by Pakistani singer-songwriter Abdul Hannan who brings an added layer of sweetness to the mix. The vocals sound crisp and the undeniable production quality that mainstream Indian pop is renowned for is undoubtedly witnessed here.
It is in the latter half of the album that the lack of memorability unfortunately begins to seep out. Zaeden 02 is a broadly sketched tale of gaining perspective on love, aimless youth, and finding solace in one’s lover. The aimlessness is highlighted in the track “pia <3” which gets lost among the countless other Arijit Singh/Armaan Malik/Darshan Raval tracks that have come before. To stick to a working formula is one thing, beginning to steadily shave off any modicum of exceptionality is another. While the track “5 saal” featuring PDNY and Raaginder does offer an interesting refresher in both language and tempo through the album, it gets slightly undershadowed in the saturation of the rest of the project.
Zaeden as a singer and songwriter is undoubtedly talented and knows how to craft hits—as several of his tracks have found their way to the Top 50 charts. What is unfortunate to see is the complacency in offering his audiences a new side of him that was more or less expected of him from this album. The production quality is at the highest tier it can be, however, an uninspired taste and curation approach will, for now, keep Zaeden in the echelon of I-Pop artists who are comfortable in the safety of a winning formula.
