The kind of sound you’ll hear on this new song, ‘Ascent’ from Bangalore band Space Hydra is something that was all the rage around the turn of last decade – the idea of electronic elements like synths and ‘wave’ textures had begun to permeate mainstream progressive rock, and so had this very clean, sterile production style that sounded like pure magic on headphones. This, then, was that generation’s indie; music to contemplate the universe to and tell your friends about. This here band is bringing that back with some post-rock elements and a super-tight presentation. And that sounds like it's the right place for this kind of rock to be these days – new enough to be fresh but old enough to be on the edge of nostalgia. It’s great.

This is an instrumental that runs just past three minutes. The groove is a steady (and wonderfully produced) bit of drums that keeps the song anchored. Above it, there’s everything you could ask for – plinky guitar tones, big ol’ Blade Runner synths and a bunch of melodies that weave into each other with barely a trace. It does help that everything is in the same sonic space more or less, but the writing is strong. And of course, the star? It’s the bass. The basslines on this thing are half the fun if you can find them; use good headphones to make sure they’re clear (even though they’re right in the front of the mix). ‘Ascent’ is just a great song and a strong debut. It’s the interlude of every prog song you like. So give it some time.