While releasing competition sets as EPs is not a new practice, I wish more groups did it. Azira should be seen as proof of the good that comes about when doing so. The latest EP from Dhamakapella features the group's award-winning set from the 2023 All-American Awaaz competition. Let's say that Dhamakapella knows how to bring new style and substance to South Asian a cappella music, and I am here for it.

As a constant consumer of a cappella music, mashups tend to make frequent appearances on my playlist. However, there is something incredibly nuanced about Dhamakapella's approach to the two featured on Azira. There is a truly calculated desire and intention to fuse various songs into one fluid work.

On Adiye / Youth there is no song A followed by song B format, rather a constant back-and-forth fueled by a pounding pulse and youthful vigor that gives the song incredible life. To achieve this, a booming rhythmic section is a must, which Dhamakapella possesses, but the group also excels at phenomenal execution of rhythm by both the backing group and leads. Every entrance is crisp, precise, and convincing. The song also benefits heavily from the insane runs that are heard throughout, especially in the Adiye portions of the song. There are the occasional balance issues, most notably in the bridge, but the song as a whole works.

I have listened to many covers of Labrinth's All For Us but Dhamakapella's just might be my new favorite. The opening of All For Us / Ae Dil Hai Mushkil teases the popular song before methodically captivating the listener's eardrums with a few pulsing lines from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The track then completely launches into one of the most wicked grooves ever, powered by one of the coolest percussion sections felt and heard in recent memory. However, the song does not stop there. The drama only builds with the help of one of the most booming low ends ever heard, nonstop seamless transitions, and a backing group that goes on a tear with relentless vocal power. Combine all of this with some of the coolest production effects and the track is an absolute winner!

To bring it on home, Dhamakapella switches gears for a brighter pop/jazz offering of Jiya Re. The track is absolute fun as the voicings sound more spaced to not only let individual parts shine, but to add more color to the overall feel. If this is not enough to grab your attention, the quick tempos of just about every voice part shout skill and astonishing vocal control. You could not have more fun on a track if you wished.

Azira displays a knack for fresh ideas in the mashup landscape. The EP is fun and engaging, albeit a few balance issues and some needed polishing in terms of execution on the opening track. Let Dhamakapella be the reason you not only dive deeper into their new project, but more South Asian a cappella music in general.

If this recording is a championship competition set by Dhamakappella, something is missing. The EP is almost ten minutes long, which directly implies a competition setlist. Because I'm one of those a cappella fans that almost aggressively looks at ICCA and ICHSA competition results, I'm no stranger to seeing Dhamakappella as a mainstay of the ICCA Midwest region, as well as three-time champions of the South Asian a Cappella Awaaz competition. Something about Azira just feels muted in comparison and it casts a strange shadow over the entire release.

Let's look at the middle track, All For Us / Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The opening thirty seconds operates as a soundscape to set the stage for the rest of the song. Instead, everything feels somewhat devoid of impact. The chords sound haunting, but the dynamics do nothing to propel the song. The dynamic levels are flat, resulting in most moments falling in the range of mezzo-forte. The bridge is a really cool moment where everyone sings the same lyrics at a rapid pace as the dynamic drives forward into a huge chord. It's a really cool arranged moment by Juniper Duncan. However, by the time that big chord hits, it takes a second for the listener to realize that it's a big moment, rather than the moment smacking the listener in the face.

Jiya Re does the same thing. I really like how light and bouncy this arrangement is. However, so many moments feel like they are lacking direction. The rhythms build and grow, but the dynamics don't. The middle of the piece has a really cool bass feature, but it feels almost disjointed and comes out of nowhere. The arrangement wants to keep shifting and growing, but the shifts feel like they are lacking intention. It's an arrangement that I would love to hear in person, purely to see if there is a difference between the recording and the live performance.

The studio is a very interesting place for a cappella. It can tune individual pitches, correct chords, and even allow for moments that might not necessarily be possible with purely human voices. However, for all the power that the studio has, the only thing that it cannot correct is energy. Whatever enthusiasm that performer brings into the studio is what shows up in the final recording. All the preparations prior to recording are great. The arrangements are solid with some fantastic moments. The soloists are strong. However, without that energy behind the microphone, even the best music on Azira is going to fall a little flat.

Last year around this time, I reviewed Dhamakapella: The 2022 Anthology. Like that project, this EP is a recording of the group's recent 3-song competition set, which runs the risk of having the energy of that live performance be lost in translation. Except this time, everything is better — instead of sitting in an uncanny valley of being "not quite a live set preservation, not quite a standalone EP", Dhamakapella demonstrates a high level of comfort with the recorded format. What's changed? Well, everything is more cohesive.

The mixing is more cohesive. In my last review I noted a lot of disjointed components between the vocal percussion, soloists, and background vocals, but I noticed almost no such disjoint on Azira. It's a subtle difference in sound, but it allows Dhamakapella to leap out of that previously mentioned uncanny valley. It means the group now lives up to their competition cohesion on their album recording. It allows for moments like the climax of Adiye / Youth to shine, where the soloists Harshini Somisetty and Kethan Srinivasan are both riffing and flexing in their own lanes but also locking at the exact right moments for some amazing musical catharsis.

Song intention and delivery are also more cohesive. I noted several times on Dhamakapella: The 2022 Anthology that there were moments where the group wanted to sound really "big", but then the result just didn't match. On Azira, these tracks go through highs and lows without feeling nearly as clamped down. When soloists get intense, the background vocals follow, and at the most exposed moments, there is still confidence in the experience. The final minute of Jiya Re most notably demonstrates this growth, as the group pulls back to its most restrained and gentle yet simultaneously intense sound and grows to a moment of appropriately epic payoff. And there are plenty of other moments of musical greatness here, too, to match.

Finally, song structure is more cohesive. As with Dhamakapella: The 2022 Anthology, the three tracks are a competition set, seemingly verbatim. However, while on the last review I felt that this format resulted in tracks not being fleshed out enough for an at-home listening experience, I actually hardly noticed the same issue here. Even if the song and set durations are almost the exact same as before, the arrangements don't rush the musical moments and mashed up original songs nearly as much. The moments of the originals may come and go at a brisk pace, but the mashups pace their setup, elaboration, and payoff far better.

Of course, the EP is still not without flaw. While there is improvement on all these fronts, there are still opportunities for even further polish. While dynamic contrast has greatly improved, there is still some opportunity to be pushed even a bit further on the high end. Additionally, All For Us / Ae Dil Hai Mushkil does falter musically for me at the midpoint. The "too much in my system" section comes out of nowhere without much setup, and is rushed in its delivery compared to the rest of the EP. These would be more negligible issues on a longer LP, but on a ten-minute release, every moment counts.

One holdover from Dhamakapella: The 2022 Anthology, unfortunately, is the liner notes' quality. Once more, they only credit original performers, but not the songwriters by name. The former is not required but the latter absolute is.

That aside, Azira is a notable improvement on all other fronts, and I greatly enjoyed hearing Dhamakapella's level-up here. Just like last time, I look forward to hearing more in the future, but it also feels great in this moment to see that anticipation from last time pay off. How much of that improvement was in the group's core abilities and how much was in the recording/production work, I'm not sure. Whatever it is, the end result is a competition set much more faithfully preserved for the at-home listening experience.