Indian independent music’s ‘f’ word has been ‘fusion’ the last how many ever years. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what people think about putting together Indian classical and other modern Western influences into one piece of music; some people don’t mind it while some hate it with a passion. However there are, most importantly, those times where one might adopt a less picket-fence attitude towards the whole thing and just enjoy the music if it sounds good. This new single from Pune musican Varun Nimbolkar (and friends) is simply a bit of good entertainment without any pretense.

There aren’t enough fingers in a venue full of people watching a cerebral musical performance intended for higher minds to count the number of ways in which combining elements of these two worlds falls flat. This particular case has sitar playing some really simple, occasionally almost poppy melodies over jungle or DnB beats. Why it even works is because Varun (with Vinay Kaushal arranging and Saee Tembhekar singing) doesn’t sit and force either end of the spectrum into the particularly incredible delicacy that only Indian classical can provide or the particularly straight, propulsive grooves that Western music has. There’s a comfortable and sensible balance of the two, and there are some nice little synths for some added flavour. One you let go of all the debating, it’s all very smooth. The melodies are nice, the drums are groovy and the combination is actually rather fun. ‘The Unposted Letter’ is by no means a purist’s delight, but hey, if you can ignore all that fluff, it’s a solid little tune.