Listen to Bright Veins on 

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Written at a spiritual retreat in Australia, the song bubbles with positivity. It urges the listener towards joy and self-belief, guided by Bihzhu’s jazz-pop inflections, glorious harmonies, and a mélange of homely instruments – tabla, gamelan, kompang, dholakh – towards an inevitable crescendo that assures us that whatever life has in store, “everything will be ok”.

Clocking in at just over three minutes, ‘Bright Veins’ achieves the near impossible task of an epic performance within that tight span of time, in which the song, honey-wrapped in melodious refrains, builds from quiet introduction to rousing conclusion. And while Bihzhu’s message of self-worth is weighted by an air of authority, she also expresses childlike wonder and praise at how this can be achieved.