Dreamhour is the alias of Siliguri producer Debo Sanyal, who has been making waves (pardon the pun) since his 2018 release VLLNS and more. His style is decidedly nostalgic and pretty, leaning towards the good ol’ synthwave and 80s-inspired synthpop that has dominated every lo-fi Youtube visualizer for some years now. There is a familiarity and warmth to the sound, especially with today’s clarity and fidelity; it’s like all your favourite aesthetics (Blade Runner, 8-bit and the colour neon pink) have found their way back into culture, except now they’re in HD and having dark, rainy palates is cool again. ‘Light’ is the name of this tune and it proves to be a nice, cozy listening experience. As advertised.

There’re two versions of the song to hear, actually; there’s one with vocals (lyrics) and one without. It’s probably not right to compare the two artistically, but they do seem to elicit different vibes. The one without vocals is absolutely a bit more meditative and works great as an open tab to give you some peace of mind while you plug away at work or something while the other version is more of a ‘song’ with all its requisite moving parts. The groove is a rock-solid kick-snare affair with arpeggiated synths that anchors the tune; this is the bedrock of the style. The song is almost six minutes long by the way; you wouldn’t notice the time go by. The vocals are also suitably melancholy are sound like they’re vocoded; they ride the song’s waves in that particularly emotional way. Debo does pull bits of the arrangement in and out (a la Nicolas Jaar?) over the track’s length, and when it all comes back in, it’s a delight. ‘Light’ is one of those tunes you throw on at the end of a party or a drive as you get back home. It’s joyful.