There’s this new undercurrent in modern pop that trades powerhouse hooks for something a bit more subtle. There are interesting chord choices, often left-field instrumental choices and some real stuff to dig into for those who enjoy listening to tracks and then picking them apart, piece by infinitesimal pieces. This here song ‘we see rainbows’ by Mumbai singer-songwriter ruhdabeh has this particular approach in large quantities – it seems like her mission statement for the song was to capture an album’s worth of atmosphere and its changes in about five minutes. Not that anyone would be complaining, of course, because she does make a good fist of it.

It’s almost a bit amusing that everything openly dramatic about this song is not what makes it most memorable. Her vocals are clear and clean, the chords choices are oh-so spicy (especially at whatever the song calls its hook) and the instrumental build that characterizes the tune is one of the best things about it. Quiet synths transition into piano and strings in just the most satisfying way, and then the song explodes into life in its last third. But the winner? The grooves. The piano takes up rhythmic duties about halfway in, and the song suddenly takes on a gritty, mean and rushed vibe. This documentary-intro atmosphere then goes into a feral, unmoored phase with these big cymbal hits out of basically nowhere; and then come the horns. This choice goes over very well, and even more so with some more feral percussion bits. This makes the inevitable moment of everything cutting out hit like an absolute truck. That does it for the music professors in the chat, but what about the rest of us? Well, it’s an epic pop tune with some elements that will catch you off guard. That’s worth anyone’s time, one would imagine.