SINGLE REVIEW: Kairvina - Squint Your Eyes
‘Squint Your Eyes’ doesn’t settle. It shifts, swells, and mutates into something entirely its own—strange, beautiful, and oddly hypnotic. The opening feels cautious, like something hiding in fog: ambient textures drift in slowly, unsettling and uneasy. But then come the guitars—gentle, hushed, almost fragile. It's a soft step forward, but one that gives way to a kaleidoscope of swirling psychedelia that bends and melts around you as the track builds.
Kairvina’s vocals carry a distinct sense of identity—there’s a slight theatricality to them, but it’s never overdone. They feel thoughtful, considered, and artistically shaped. There’s something unhurried about how she lets each phrase unfold, trusting the song’s momentum to carry things forward. And she’s right to—because when it does finally lift off, it really lifts.
Midway through, the track starts to gather weight. The percussion comes alive, vocal layers stack and intertwine, and the once-delicate arrangement expands into something far more muscular. What started as folk-tinged and uncertain becomes celebratory and bold—almost anthemic by the end. It never loses its dreamlike haze, but it pulses with new colour and confidence.
One of the most striking parts is how subtly it pulls from Kairvina’s Indian roots. It’s not heavy-handed or obvious, but there’s a muted vibrancy in the rhythm that feels unmistakably influenced by Bhangra—tucked behind the drum lines, pulsing beneath the surface. It’s that thread of cultural identity that makes the whole track feel more dimensional, more personal, and more compelling.
This isn’t just genre-blending for the sake of it—it’s deliberate and clever. ‘Squint Your Eyes’ manages to stitch together folk, indie rock, Bhangra, and psychedelia without anything feeling out of place. It’s dynamic and multifaceted but still coherent, still grounded. A shapeshifter of a song that knows exactly where it's going, even when you don’t.
Kairvina’s got something genuinely interesting here—she’s not just writing songs, she’s crafting soundscapes. The result is a track that moves, surprises, and stays with you long after it ends.
