Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na by June Banerjee, Debjit Roy

June Banerjee, Debjit Roy has delivered memorable performances before, but Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na sits comfortably among the very best. The arrangement here is the work of Debjit Roy, and it shows genuine craft in how it builds and releases.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na, June Banerjee, Debjit Roy clearly belongs in the second group. Rituparna Sengupta, Rajesh Sharma, Kharaj Mukherjee, Badsha Moitra gave the film its soul, and Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na is the song that most directly channels that feeling into music.

2015 was a strong year for Bengali music, and Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na was among the reasons why. The emotional register of Ektu Boso Chole Jeo Na is wide enough to fit celebration and solitude equally well.

At 4:13, the track does not overstay its welcome — it says what it needs to say and leaves the listener wanting more. It is, simply, one of the better songs to come from Bengali in recent memory — and the numbers agree.