Sikkimese singer-songwriter Abhibyanjana Rubhi Thatal has been around putting out music for a couple of years now with her first single coming out in ’18. This new song ‘Winter Love’ is part of a lead-up to an EP coming out this year, so it’s our first taste of the palate she will (or might) be using. First impressions are that it’s going to be a muted-pastel-shades kind of sound; quiet composition, wavy instrumentation, subtle vocal harmonies and large family-size bucket of reverb. All these ingredients are known to combine well, of course, and Abhibyanjana lets the whole thing breathe.

Featuring fellow singer-songwriter Peeyush Nepal, the thing that first strikes the listener about ‘Winter Love’ is just how unruffled it is. The energy is kept really low-key and even when the curiously groovy drums and bass come in towards the song’s end to support the solo and refrain, it’s still really cool and calm. Abhibyanjana’s vocals are equally quiet (and a bit breathy) until this stage of the song; she does open it up a bit and some strings come in to sort of emphasize that, but for the most part it’s all very serene. That idea is well executed in almost every facet of the track. There is a ton of reverb all over, but it’s almost supposed to be there. This floaty vibe requires a large sense of space and a warm, cozy production style often forgoes that. She also doesn’t put too much focus on the individual sections of the track as specific moments. The song flows very smoothly from a verse to a ‘hook’ to a guitar section and back; it’s almost like one might not notice. The idea of ‘Winter’s Love’ is to inspire a bit of solitude and faraway looks into the distance, and that it absolutely does.