Atif Aslam, Abudllah Siddiqui push music boundaries in new song ‘GO’

Coke Studio bring together pop icon Atif Aslam and pop sensation Abdullah Siddiqui with “GO”, the twelvth song from Season 14. A dreamy cloudscape, an earworm hook, Atif Aslam’s otherworldly vocals and Abdullah Siddiqui’s sensitive touch shoot Coke Studio’s Go into the stratosphere. 

Associate Music Producer Abdullah, with the help of Xulfi and lyricist Maanu, creates a perfect blend of everything Coke Studio promises this season: youthful energy, fresh sounds, and established musicians trying new things. Go leaps from the speakers and takes us by the hand. 

The brainy quirks of Gen-Z breakthrough artists Abdullah and Maanu lift this track, while Xulfi’s wisdom and Atif’s heartfelt performance bring the song back to its Pakistani roots. The chorus rocks thanks to an unforgettable sarangi line running through it.

Go speaks of “romanticism and being an emotional fool. It’s an anthem for sensitivity really,” says Abdullah. The video, by ace director Kamal Khan and Production Designer Eruj Hadi, opens with a whisper in a dimly lit room. 

As the song builds, Abdullah traverses galaxies, coming upon Atif who struggles with doubts of his own. “I felt like the core of [the song] has an electronic feel, which is why I wanted to bring in some fantastical elements,” Kamal says. 

Suspended in the clouds, the performers realise the only thing holding them back in life is themselves. Abdullah’s shine and Atif’s embroidered boiler suit are a stroke of inspiration by stylist Faraz Sheikh, who created gender-neutral styles to express a break from old ways of thinking. By the time the chorus kicks in, the joy in their voices overflows. The singers open themselves to the infinite possibilities that the universe offers.

The past two years have shone a light on our vulnerabilities. Go validates those soft parts of ourselves that we spend so much time masking. In that studio in the sky, Atif and Abdullah find the cure. Their dreamy track hints at a new outlook taking hold: one where we might feel fear, but do what calls us anyway.