Coke Studio Nu.WAV has released its fifth track, and it may be the platform’s most emotional offering yet. Qasam pairs Shae Gill with Afusic for a brooding experimental pop song about a relationship that hurts, holds on, and refuses to let go — produced and directed by Abdullah Kasumbi, who also composed the track alongside Afusic, from lyrics written by Afusic himself.
The sound is where Qasam really separates itself. Kasumbi’s energetic electronic production runs against the weight of the words, while Gul Khan’s sarangi threads a distinctly South Asian ache through the arrangement. Afusic delivers his verses with his recognisable rhythmic phrasing, and Shae Gill — so often heard in a softer register — explores a different vocal range and style altogether, giving the song its haunted edge.
The video, filmed inside Karachi’s century-old Bristol Hotel, is built around movement rather than story. Choreography traces two people drawing closer, drifting apart, struggling to trust and trying to reconnect, with dancers at one point pulled by invisible strings and at another moving like stitches that keep joining and separating. The closing image draws on the classic Sufi metaphor of the moth and the flame — attraction that carries risk — as Shae reaches for Afusic’s hand in the final moments.
For Shae Gill, Qasam is a return to the Coke Studio family that made her a global name: her Season 14 duet Pasoori with Ali Sethi became the first locally produced Pakistani music video to cross one billion views on YouTube. For Afusic, it is his second Nu.WAV appearance after featuring on Dil, the platform’s opening release — another step in a fast rise that took his breakout Pal Pal to the top of the UK’s Official Asian Music Chart and onto the Canadian Hot 100. Executive produced by Kamal Khan, Qasam is the fifth of Nu.WAV’s six releases, with one final track still to come.
