by Haseeb Peer
In the autumn of 2011 deplorable news took over the Pakistani music arena – Jal the band had broken up once again. This was the band’s second break up after their first one had happened more than half a decade ago when Atif Aslam split up due to indifference with the endowed and artistic Goher Mumtaz to pursue on a single career. This time, Farhan Saeed had left the band, giving the band’s fans an inclusive kick in the teeth. Goher assured the fans of a new line up and within a month, the band was back in the news when the new line up was announced with Goher himself taking on the vocals.
The last month of 2011 was voraciously exciting for the solid and loyal fans of Jal, when he released the videos of not one but two songs; giving rise to a hope of endurance that looked like extinguishing after the main vocalist had left in a jiffy to leave the band in dismay. Proclamation was made regarding the release of the new album which proved to be the icing on the cake, as the band’s fans including me prepared themselves for a whirlpool of exuberating yet melodious songs from the band once again. The first deadline set was March 2012- the month passed off peacefully without any major declarations coming from the band’s side. The second deadline set was the very next month. The month passed and so did the four subsequent months, when Mumtaz finally broke the deadlock in an interview given to a gossip magazine affirming that the album would be released in September. The month passed off as usual and a new deadline was set- October 2012.
Now we are almost towards the closing stages of the first month of this year’s winter and the band’s album is nowhere to be heard. It is such a tragic case that the man in charge of the band has been making promises after promises and then throwing them into the drain without even caring for the sentiments of his loyal fans who have stuck with him through thick and thin and have supported him and his band whilst his lead vocalists have proved treacherous all this while. Even to this day, his fans check his official pages time and again to look for a link or a clue that would give the hint of the album’s release, but every time the fans get mere disappointment. Mumtaz is surely testing the patience of all the fans he has worked hard to earn for over a decade and the day is surely not far away when the fans won’t care for the release if the man in charge keeps on making bogus promises time and again.
