Every once in a while you find an acoustic indie song that seems to stick out from the rest. In a notoriously subjective genre where everyone generally relates to what is personal to them (and currently flooded with all manner of low-effort and bland offerings), it isn’t often where something comes around that is unequivocally great. Kohima-born artist Bozio Nienu might just have one of those moments with his new single ‘Lighthouse’, a track that has tangible emotion, simple production and classy writing. And it hits you right in the feels.

The story is all in Bozio’s passionate and clear-as-a-bell vocal performance. He isn’t hitting some impossibly high notes or doing anything super dramatic, but just his delivery does plenty on its own. There really isn’t anything to hear on ‘Lighthouse’ that hasn’t been done before, but the whole point is that it’s done so well. Acoustic and electric guitar meet piano and minimal drums in a really gratifying way that has class written all over it. The hook is fantastic, Bozio’s vocals are subtly layered and everything is just on point. The bridge is a vocal break, which is not as common as it used to be. One might say the same for the almost obviously simple final refrain that has a small guitar solo behind it, but the point is that the resulting nostalgia is well earned. ‘Lighthouse’ brings out something important about modern indie-adjacent music and its limitations; there doesn’t always have to be crazy inventiveness or an urge to sonically push the envelope, though both are good things. It all starts with a good song no matter what it ends up as, and this is beyond just good.