At a time when bars (of the hip-hop kind) are the center of the popular music world, it is somewhat heartening to see that genres of yore are still being used for artistic exploration. Jaipur-based singer-songwriter Komal Panwar along with Alvin Stanly (who arranged) uses the now rather ancient sounds of classic rock and lounge to spice up her new single ‘Turn Around’, with interesting results.

‘Turn Around’ is at its heart a pop song, so there’s nothing alienating about it. It’s got a good hook, the production is squeaky clean and crisp (sometimes a bit too much so), and she has a great singing voice for the old-school delivery she chooses to use. The song is five minutes long and doesn’t have any particular changes of pace or transitions, so it’s meant to be a sort of relaxing experience. This is where the more lounge music-y elements help out. The chilled out keys in the background and Komal’s vocals complement each other very well indeed, and her lilting, measured tone is a great fit for the vibe. Even though the track could do with a bit of crackle, pop and dust, it achieves what it sets out to do. In fact, sometimes the gloss and sheen actually give the song a classy edge. The last minute of the song, for example, has a guitar solo that doesn’t hog all the space in the mix with some layered background vocals, and in this moment, the clean sounds and clear mix are excellent. It is also a welcome decision to not have a stereotypical and cheesy shred-fest at the tail end of the song. There’s a sing-along after the chorus for those who are inclined towards doing that, the hook is actually really simple (which is good) and the song keeps things quite sparse for the most part.

The best thing about ‘Turn Around’ is its commitment. You can label it cheesy or old-school or simplistic or whatever, but the song goes ahead and does all those things anyway. Genre and sound is a subjective matter, but whether something is half-hearted or half-assed is not. Komal Panwar and Alvin Stanly do the right thing by not thinking about the listener’s opinions too much and just making what they want to. That’s a good attitude to have, at the very least.