Varun Sheel wears a mask of glitter and grace on his new single 'cool like you'

There’s a point in 'cool like you', the shimmering new single from Boston’s Varun Sheel, where the beat keeps bouncing, the guitar lines shimmer like disco balls in motion, and yet, something aches just beneath the gloss. And it's that tension between shine and shadow is exactly what makes the track so affecting.

Sheel has carved out a compelling niche for himself as a genre-blurring pop shapeshifter, and 'cool like you' is arguably his most arresting transformation to date. On the surface, it’s a sunlit slice of indie pop, with tight drums, bouncy 808s, and glistening guitars that echo the effervescent joy of artists like Bleachers or Troye Sivan. But scratch the surface, and the emotional weight delivers a song about performance, the emotional contortions we make to be accepted, loved, or simply safe.

What sets him further apart is the way he fuses cultures without diluting either. Raised on Hindustani classical music through his father, and later immersed in Western guitar heroes and neuroscience textbooks, Sheel brings both technical nuance and emotional intelligence to his work. The influence of Indian classical music hums beneath the surface with a subtle control in the delivery, and the melodic richness that feels quietly expansive.

Sheel’s previous releases hinted at his potential, but 'cool like you' is where everything locks into place. It’s a polished, painfully relatable pop song that doesn’t trade intelligence for accessibility. The hooks are sharp, the vocals controlled but aching, and the emotional undercurrent is one many will recognise, especially those straddling multiple identities, cultures, or expectations.

There’s something both empowering and tragic about a song like this. It’s dancefloor therapy for the overthinkers. A sugar-coated truth bomb. And with 'cool like you', Varun Sheel invites us to dance through the masquerade, one glimmering step closer to ourselves.