New Delhi singer-songwriter Anisha Uppal (or Anisha AOD) has a lot of things going for her musically. She has an expressive voice and a relatively no-nonsense delivery on her single ‘Broken’ gives it a refreshingly unassuming air. She’s put out a handful of singles this year that have a solid level of quality and some songwriting chops. ‘Broken’ new single combines all that with a dark tone, an excellent arrangement and some truly great production to make a wistful and emotionally tangible four-and-a-half minutes.

It’s a testament to the song that it maintains its dramatic vibe without any huge peaks and valleys to shock the listener into feeling something or being taken off-guard. Adhiraj Kabir Mustafi’s arrangement deserves a lot of credit for this. This song was apparently Anisha’s first written on guitar, and the acoustic guitars on this track are supported by some heavy (in tone, not in a metchul sense) drums and booming bass. It gives the track a lot of its darkness and is such an interesting sonic decision. Yes, the song content-wise is a sad and forlorn look at relationships, but the rhythm section (the double-time section that precludes the first verse is especially delicious), backing vocals, piano and heavy atmosphere gives the song a more brooding and ominous feel that is really, really satisfying. Of course, Anisha is at the centre of it all, and her simple vocal delivery is yet another interesting contrast; while all the atmosphere is surrounding her, she sings simply and directly with not much on her voice and a marked lack of vocal gymnastics. It works way better than it sounds on paper, giving her vocal a lonely and weirdly static feel with all the movement happening with the instrumentation. There isn’t too much to pick out as an individually striking section or anything here; ‘Broken’ is a continuous and flowing experience, and that is where it shines.