The Tattva Trip and Motherjane alum Suraj Mani’s music has always had a touch of class to it. His recent output has been relatively simple and skeletal singer-songwriter material, but there is a vein of great songwriting and a sort of elegance that one can’t ignore. The first thing you think when you  hear a song like his new single ‘Ignoring Gravity’ isn’t about each element or his vocals or the instrumentation in isolation. It’s just a straight-up great song, and while it is far from surprising in any way that Suraj Mani can write a top tune, it is welcome in this day and age.

This song is another ode to rain (it’s always raining somewhere in the world, they say) and the classic sound reinforces it. Suraj has always been a great guitar player; his delicate but spangly treatment of the acoustic is one of the real highlights of the song. His vocal delivery is also more conversational and intimate than over the top, which is equally gratifying. The song doesn’t do any structural gymnastics, combining simple verses and choruses that are as relaxed as they are sweet. There aren’t any stylistic shifts or instrumental switch-ups, but what that results in is a sense of intimacy and immediacy that makes it feel like Suraj is singing only to you in spite of the extremely glossy and squeaky-clean production. It’s stuff like this that harkens back to simpler era and it’s nice to see that innocent simplicity having a place at the table today.