Chennai’s Funktuation have been a big name in the scene for years, and it’s actually kind of surprising that they’ve only put out the one EP ‘Funk Katcheri’ since their inception. That being said, it was one of the most polished and entertaining releases of last year, with tons of personality and a bucketload of groove. The band’s latest music video for ‘Poovey’ came out on Valentine’s Day and keeps up the colorful vibe of the EP while reminding us of what an absolute banger the song is.

The band’s big-boss frontman Benny Dayal is the driving force of some of the band’s material; on ‘Poovey’, he is very much in a Justin Timberlake-pioneered space. His vocals (and in spirit, the light and positive lyrics about love and so on) are absolute velvet and there are stamps of Timberlake’s way or arranging vocals all over the place. The very layered chorus with tons of harmonies, the little pauses for added spice, the crazy vocal runs over the final chorus of the track; this is vocally in top-tier R&B territory, and needless to say, Benny absolutely kills it (not surprising in the least). But his delivery would be a bit rambling without the super vibrant instrumentation that supports it. There are some elements of the throwback funk that Bruno Mars brought back on 24K Magic here. Carl Fernandes provides some bubbly and tight basslines; it is completely impossible not to nod your head to it. David Joseph’s drums (and sequenced drums) are halfway between drum-machine precision and have a little swing in parts. Alok Merwin does some wild things with old-school synths; in fact, he provides most of the melodic structure of the track, including a ripping solo towards the last third. Joshua Satya is restrained on guitars, only doing the short and punchy licks that the genre is known for. The production of the track is also punchy and squeaky clean. There are little touches everywhere that augment the overall experience further, which is commendable considering how much fun it is to begin with.

The video is colourful and has a modern touch to it, with fixed camera angles and something unmistakably new-age about it. But above all, as mentioned earlier, it serves as a great reminder of what a blast ‘Poovey’ is to listen to. You’d be making a mistake if you don’t give it a listen if you haven’t already. The EP ‘Funk Katcheri’ is no slouch either.