There are some big names associated with this new single from songwriter and vocalist Urvi Bhattacharya, ‘Pantomime’. Keshav Dhar mixes, Nishant Hagjer drums, Aaditya Goswami plays guitar and bass. So in writing about this song and listening to it, a few things are ubiquitous enough that they don’t even need to be mentioned. Obviously it’s produced very precisely and cleanly. You can hear everything with great clarity. Obviously the performances are strong; there’s nothing out of the ordinary in the quality of instrumentation. In a way, these are good things, because there are no preconceptions that affect ‘Pantomime’. You end up hearing the writing, the vocal melodies and the general feel of the song. Those end up being pretty good too.

The song is just under six and a half minutes long, but in true prog tradition, it is packed to the brim with enough changes of pace and emotion to satisfy even a hardboiled fan. However, that in a way isn’t really the point here. What does stand out is Urvi’s ability to write a great hook and vocal lines. The hook really ends up being the star of the show. It’s just that little bit melancholy, but it’s also uplifting and melodic as heck. There’s a lot of Steven Wilson-esque chords going on here, but no one’s complaining. Most of the song actually has a straight-up rock presentation until the truly stunning pre-choruses and choruses. Of course, there’s the more aggressive growls and more propulsive instrumentation in between, but it is absolutely the melodic sections that impress. That notwithstanding, there’s a breakdown of sorts and a solo, but it really is the areas where ‘Pantomime’ shows its emotion from behind its mask of high-level technique and the like where it really, really goes over well. It’ll hit you in the face.