This is no time for some sort of history of house music or even electronic music in general, but this upbeat new single ‘Bepanaah’ by Hyderabad’s Mr.Beatlust and Mandira Karmakar does beg a question – Wow, this music still exists? Not since the late 2000s radio scene or even the mid-2000s Bollywood scene (remember all those terrible movies?) has there been any genuine attempt at resurrecting EDM and Indian pop vocals with sincerity. But here we are with exactly that. It’s familiar and fun to those who’ve lived though that era, and sort of fresh to those who haven’t. This is undeniably interesting.

This song, first of all, is quite accessible (which is what it rides on). Mandira’s vocal chops leave no room for doubt, combining styles and languages in a lovely way. Her backdrop is where the old-school (these days, at least) house influences come in. There’s guitars, some excellent piano-ish chords and a pulsating, instantly danceable groove that all come together in that way only a producer could execute. There are some continuous accents to build upon this, and hell, there’s even a little buildup of sorts. This really has that throwback quality of the early 2000s and even hearkens back to the old days of house, which was basically chopped-up vocal samples over a groove and more recontextualization. This doesn’t really have that vibe, but it does sound like the source of such a thing. That easygoing nature and versatility make ‘Bepanaah’ no mean feat.