This single isn’t the original ‘broken’ by CZA and MusicByRohit; that song is a clean and really sweet guitar-backed indie tune from their EP ‘Elucidate’. Of course, that version elicits enough feeling on its own; alleyways, neon and the like. What the Pune producer Tansen. does to it doesn’t take it into a completely different emotional place or ups the energy until it’s completely unrecognizable. What actually happens is once the four minutes of ‘broken (reimagined)’ end, one is left with a more concentrated version of the vibe presented in the original. And it’s needless to say that it keeps the spirit intact.

Instrumentally, the strummed guitar of the original version is replaced by a range of keys, layered background vocals and the kind of lo-fi drums that’ll get you reaching for your cuppa. The loosely performed vocal melody is still at the center of everything; this is the element that provides the nocturnal, ‘grey’ feeling the song is going for. It’s also very clear that the wistful, almost mournful tone of the whole affair is what attracted Tansen. to remake this song, because those are the feelings he ‘enhances’. The mildly off-kilter groove works extremely well with the other lo-fi sounds (as it’s almost designed to do given the woolly and quiet nature of both) and the keys and the touches of guitar have the expected warmth. There’s not much else to say here, ‘broken (reimagined)’ is just a flat-out good remake that fleshes things out a bit more and is well worth a listen.