In October 1996, under Magnasound Label, the duo released their debut album self-titled Colonial Cousins (album). The album broke all records including hitting platinum sales in India. The duo also won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then later on bagged the US Billboard Viewer's Choice Award too! The exceptional Indian and Western music fusion generated a new genre of music and won hearts of millions of music lovers worldwide.
Their deubt album opened up the doors for Indian sounds to be used in western sounding songs. The style is essentially fusion, with a lot of songs opening with recognisable Hindustani or Carnatic ragas and then segueing into a more pop style. A further cachet to the album is that the musicians who worked on it range from Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, winner of a Grammy Award for his invention of the 14-stringed guitar, to sessions musicians who have worked with the likes of Madonna, Boy George, Annie Lennox and other big names in the Western world.
The album had two major hit singles Krishna and Sa Ni Dha Pa (Never Know the Reason) for both of which their music videos were repeatedly played on music channels.
The first Colonial Cousins album was a tour de force. In November 19 1998, their second album, a sophomore effort, The Way We Do It (Album), was a continuation of, and a departure from, that first effort. Lyrically low-key, musically rich and groove-ridden, this album saw Hari and Lezz establish themselves as India's premier fusion artists.
The album was a continuation in musical terms to the extent that Lezz and Hari had done what they do best individually, and fused it into a format that enriches and complements each other. That said, the album was also a departure sound-wise from their eponymous first album. While that has a softer sound to it, their second album was edgier and groovier.
The album has some successful singles like the title track Way We Do It (audio track)) with U. Srinivas playing on it, Dekhoon main jahan penned by talented ghazal singer Javed Akhtar, No Longer Mine and Lady.
After two-and-a-half years in hibernation, Indipop fusion band Colonial Cousins, sprung into action with their third album Aatma. Released in April 2001, under the Sony label, the nine-track album was a delectable fusion of Indian vocals and contemporary instrumentation. Besides being busy in playback singing Hariharan had cut a ghazal album “Kaash” last year, while Lewis has been busy composing jingles and producing music.
Hariharan, an exponent of Carnatic music trained in Hindustani gayaki under the tutelage of Padamshree Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, displays vocal skills in his rich baritone in songs like “Guiding Star”, “Mata Pita” and “Dheem Dheem Dhirena”.
Lewis, on the other hand, chips in with the pop element. While the English lyrics Lewis sings have depth and meaning, his vocals are delightfully sweet at places. One can easily detect a conscious attempt on his part to infuse his singing with emotion. Still, the saving grace of “Aatma” is the emphatic presence of Hariharan.
There is also a song “I Love You Girl” which Hariharan has dedicated to his daughter Divya. Its title “I love you girl, for Divya when I’m Gone” says everything.
In “Aatma”, they have got back to square one and incorporated the same sounds and style that music buffs have come to identify with them.
In 2009, the Colonial Cousins made a debut as music composers for Tamil film "Modhi Vilayadyu" directed by Saran. The director of the film required a new trend of music and so roped in the Indipop duo thus opening doors for them to the Kollywood Film Industry.
The film has music of Hariharan - Leslie for the first time in Tamil. The audio launch of this movie held on April 28 2009.
