Swoopna Suman tugs at the heartstrings with ‘Aaja Feri’

By Mannu Shahi

Born in 1995, in Dharan, Suman Thapa, popular as Swoopna Suman, is one of the most prominent names in Nepali Indie Pop scene today, with a discography of over a dozen singles and an album under his belt.

The singer enjoys a huge fan following, as evidenced by the more than 349,000 followers he has on his official YouTube channel. Such is his admirers love for him that they call themselves Swoopners.

The songster started developing an inclination towards music at a fairly young age, and had jotted down his first composition before he was even in the seventh grade. By the age of 20, he had already collaborated with several well-known artistes and released a few cover songs. 

This started creating a buzz around his name. But he truly catapulted to fame in 2017 with his song ‘Kasari Bhanu’ released on YouTube from Channel Arbitrary. This song broke the internet, as they say, and made him a heartthrob.

Swoopna and his career continue to grow with back-to-back releases and collabs with new producers, musicians and arrangers. His songs, which describe infatuations, relationships, romantic tragedies and longings for passionate reunions, greatly appeal to the younger demographic.

His latest single ‘Aaja Feri’ published on February 25 is currently trending at number 16, as rated by the Nepal-moderated YouTube broadcast. 

Written and composed by Suman himself, the song features his new band ‘The Asters’ which has Ayush Bahadur Shrestha on keyboard, Alish KC on bass, Ashim Tamang on guitars and Saroj Ghimire Chettri on drums. The audio has been mixed and mastered by Suman’s long-time collaborator and veteran musician Firoj Bajracharya of Jyoti Records along with Abisekh Pun; and has been recorded at 5150 Studios. 

The fun and extravagant video has been directed by Anjon Limbu with the story and concept by Jyostna Yogi and the project has been managed by Rashik Bhattarai.

‘Aaja Feri’, like most of his tunes, takes a signature Swoopna Suman love ballad route: soft, comfortable and easy on the ears. The singer has been steadily releasing a range of love songs for a while now, as we see less and less of his genre transcending materials, like his 2021 collabs with Manas Ghale and Sushant KC, and most of his work from his debut album ‘Pratikriti’.

However, the addition of his new band definitely uplifts the ambience of the entire compositional structure.

The song begins with minimal acoustic guitar strumming decorated further by beautiful pinch harmonics. Layers of guitar work and sustained 

synth chords lure in the vocals that are subtle and tender, evoking cosy feelings of mutually shared desires with one’s partner. The drums kick off with this very catchy pre-chorus phrase making the tune feel livelier. 

The chorus, with longer breathy notes and post-chorus melody, further enhances the appeal. The interlude section is simple, yet effective, and the slide guitar solo in the latter half of the song helps intensify the atmosphere to finally resolve into the outro. 

Lyrically, the song is reflecting on a past relationship, recalling the good and the bad times spent with an old flame; sending them good thoughts and healing prayers but bereaved by their absence. So, do check out the new single in case you have not already.