Assam’s Parthiv Saikia (currently based in Jorhat) solo debut here is a fun ride; that much isn’t up for debate. It’s three minutes of great guitar playing, super drumming and groovy-as-hell basslines. One might consider the idea that music like this (equally inspired by guitar music of the old days and the clean, precise production of today) isn’t as compelling now in this age of lyricism (or wordy presentation at the very least), avant-garde experimentation and so on, but the point of ‘Depths’ is to forget about all the trends, the complexities of this kind of style (which are on show here) and just have a good time. And that spirit, it fully conveys.

Make no mistake, Parthiv and his musicians are excellent players; Parthiv’s compositional talent also shines through. ‘Depths’ is a shade over three minutes long but it gets a lot done. Obviously, leading music with a guitar conjures up mental images of solos that go on long after the gig is done, but they do a great job of keeping things tight. Arnob Hiwale provides drum fills for days, Bedanga Ved Sharma gets that low-end growl into his bass we all love, and Mrinmoy Sharma brings some atmosphere into the equation with some (admittedly miles back in the mix) keys. The focus, then, is on Parthiv, and mainly on his layering. Pretty chords are found in abundance here and their sometimes-funky-sometimes-not instances allow for his lead playing to actually have a solid base on which to build. The song’s first half sets all this up with a commendable degree of smoothness; there are vocal-like ‘hook’ sections that anchor the song while the transitions are pleasantly smooth. There’s not only talent but an understanding of the sound used on this single, and ‘Depths’ is easily worth three minutes of your time.