Guwahati producer-singer-songwriter Anikesh Chetia (who calls himself Kruze Kayne where music in concerned) cites a list of influences that live in a place where electronic music, dance, hip-hop and soul collided in the early-to-mid-2010s; a time when James Blake basically redefined electronic sounds for the modern pop age (and he should get all the credit in the world for it). That sort of understated, quiet approach is quite apparent on his low-key new single ‘Caesar’, but he takes his cues well and uses the sparse toolkit of elements he has to build something larger than the sum of its parts.

The song is all about the stuttering, chill-hop groove and the impressively warm chords that accompany it. Rather oddly, the reverb and washy ambience that floods the track stays out of Prabahan Shakya’s vocals, the clarity of which throw everything else into sharp relief. It’s a interesting way to go, and while the vocals do take a lot of focus, they’re strong. The song doesn’t really try to go anywhere more energetic, staying in a relatively mellow pocket throughout. Some piano comes in for a short while after the first hook, ably backed up by a truly delicious synth and a bunch of woolly reverb. This segues into a short instrumental section that foreshadows more, but the payoff comes off towards the song’s end. The last minute or so is dominated by some sort of glockenspiel or xylophone pattern that is in double-time and has a vaguely skippy groove to it, but it provides a wonderful contrast to everything that comes before it. ‘Caesar’ shows chops, of course, but it also shows a gratifying attention to detail. This works well.