It has been nearly 7 years since the band Aastha stormed into the Nepali music scene creating an enormous buzz after their self-titled album Aastha. Aastha was a band created on a whim where two friends Sudip Gurung from Ilam and Naren Limbu from Dharan met at Kathmandu Academy, and started fooling around with music. Singing simple songs of love, heartbreak and tragedy, their music resonated with a wide range of audiences who were going through the same thing. When their music came out in 2003, their songs soared to popularity creating a whole new scene for pop music in Nepal.

A lot has changed since then, Sudip left for the UK and released his own album. Naren came out with 3 solo albums under the Aastha banner and made a directorial debut with his video Timi Aunu. Now his fourth solo album Aas will be released very soon during the month of July.

Aas has a total of 8 songs, 5 of which are songs Naren wasn’t able to promote in his previous albums. Working on this album for nearly the past 7 months, Naren struggled with the frustration he felt with the long, never-ending load shedding hours that disrupted his work. Aas, the title song, the first to be released, talks of the hope of being together with a loved one again. One of his songs in the album is even in Limbuwan language titled Khene Numa Khewa.

Aas is an album which includes songs from personal events of Naren’s own life and from the feelings that touches him from others’ lives. Naren, who has never been professionally trained, has written all the songs in this album. “In fact, I wrote most of the lyrics in my own kitchen,” he reveals, “the soothing sounds of my own echo helped me find inspiration.”

Usually a crooner of melancholic songs, Naren decided to include some happy, upbeat songs in this album-two are fun songs that have a ‘disco-dance’ quality to it. “Rejection is a humorous song that speaks of my own rejection from various girls when I went out clubbing, but how no amount of rejection is going to make me afraid to put myself out there,” he confesses.

This album, along with future projects will see Naren directing various music videos. Already, Naren has directed videos for other Nepali artistes like Abhaya and the Steam Injuns, Pursang Lama and the likes. All of these small stints are, he hopes, practice for future filmmaking, another entertainment area he wishes to explore.

As for the future, Aastha fans may be able to see the two Aastha’s reunited for another project. In fact, in 2008, five years after their debut album, Naren and Sudip for the first time, gave a concert together performing in Kathmandu, Dharan and Pokhara. Again when it is possible with their schedules, they would like to work together.