Pariyerum Perumal (soundtrack)

Pa. Ranjith's norm composer Santhosh Narayanan, was assigned to compose the soundtrack and score of Pariyerum Perumal. Selvaraj noted that Santhosh had not composed for a film set in the Southern region of Tamil Nadu, and with his involvement, he treated the film in his own way resulting in "[the] story of Southern Tamil Nadu is now universal".^[1] The music was described as a mixture of Tamil folk and conventional music,^[2] and Santhosh had particularly chosen singers and musicians from the Tirunelveli–Thoothukudi regions, where the film was set.^[3][4]

While composing the song "Karuppi", Santhosh had emphasized on the "wailing sounds" mixing Oppari and electronic sounds. Although Narayanan recorded multiple versions for the film, with different singers, his version was retained due to Selvaraj's suggestion.^[5] The song "Vaa Rayil Vida Polaamaa" was sung by Super Singer Junior season 5 title winner Prithika.^[6]

The first single "Karuppi" was released on 4 March 2018, and the second single "Engum Pugazh Thuvanga" was released on 18 May 2018.^[7][8] The album was launched by Dhanush on 9 September 2018.^[9]

Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog said, "After Kaala, Pariyerum Perumal is the second whopper from Santhosh Narayanan this year!"^[10] V. Lakshmi of The Times of India had stated "In the recent past, Santhosh Narayanan has come up with albums that are the voice to the suppressed. This album falls in that category as well."^[11] Ashameera Aiyappan of Cinema Express wrote "Santhosh Narayanan delivers a sucker punch of an album that is so raw, the emotion seeps through your flesh."^[12] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South complimented "Santhosh Narayanan's work is magnificent".^[13]

Anjana Shekar of The News Minute wrote "The film’s soundtrack by Santhosh Narayanan is easily his most important work till date. Listening to Santhosh sing 'Karuppi' or 'Naan Yaar' on the big screen gets under your skin, quite literally. He has also retained the raw quality in these folk songs without adulterating it with a composer’s version, which is indeed a refreshing, most-enjoyable change."^[14] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of India Today wrote "The songs by Santhosh Narayanan give another dimension to the film. From folk numbers to trippy racy numbers, the music composer has given it all for this film. It is doubtful if Pariyerum Perumal would have been as intense as it is now, without SaNa's music."^[15]

Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote "Composer Santhosh Narayanan transports you to the milieu with his bag of tunes — while 'Potta Kaatil' stands out for its melody, the existential 'Naan Yaar' plays around with colour, much like how director Pa Ranjith (the producer for this film) envisioned the climax of his recent Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala."^[16]

Credits adapted from Think Music:^[17]

• All music composed, produced, arranged and programmed by – Santhosh Narayanan
• Piano, synths, rhythm and potti – Santhosh Narayanan
• Nadaswaram – Kariyapatti Sekar
• Thavil – Pichamani, Ganapathy
• Pambai – Raja
• Urumi – Dayanandham, Murugesan
• Bass – Naveen
• Percussions – Ganapathy, Venkat
• Acoustic guitar – Telfie
• Electric guitar – Keba Jeremiah
• Additional rhythms – RK Sundar
• Recording studios – Future Tense Studios, Krimson Avenue Studios, Resound India
• Recording engineers – Santhosh Narayanan, Sai Shravanam, RK Sundar, Abin Pushpakaran, Dinesh Antony
• Mixed by – Sai Shravanam at AM Studios and RK Sundar at Future Tense Studios, Chennai
• Mastered by – Alex Gordon at Abbey Road Studios, London
• Musicians co-ordinator – Meenakshi Santhosh, Andrew T. Mackay