The hunt for happiness is usually a lifelong and sometimes elusive journey, one thing Priya Ragu is aware of intimately. Because the daughter of Sri Lankan refugees who fled from the nation’s civil warfare, her childhood within the Swiss metropolis of St Gallen was at Westernised odds along with her Eastenised, Tamil heritage. How does one separate the expectations of their elders from their very own goals? And as somebody navigating a cultural in-between area, is it ever doable to consolidate the 2?

These are questions Ragu seeks to reply on her danceable but considerate debut album ‘Santhosam’, which is known as after the Tamil phrase for happiness. Dreaming massive just isn’t one thing that has ever phased Ragu; her debut mixtape, 2021’s ‘damnshetamil’, happened after she give up her job working for a Swiss airline and relocated to New York. It marked the beginning of her working relationship along with her producer brother, Japhna Gold, that developed right into a sonic type the duo coined ‘Raguwavy’. This floor-filling, South Asian-infused sound has grown ever extra formidable and experimental on ‘Santhosam’, with standouts ‘Uyiree’ and ‘Energy’ delving into Sade-esque smoothness and cinematic jazz orchestrations respectively.

The album begins with an announcement of intent on its forceful opening monitor. “I’ve acquired a lot life in me that I needs to be residing,” Ragu states on highly effective opener ‘Faculty Me Like That’ –  a response to her grandmother asking why she nonetheless isn’t married. Underpinned by infectious tabla rhythms, the monitor explores the stress on South Asian girls to calm down, but additionally celebrates the enjoyment Ragu has present in her personal, extra leftfield path. Ragu sings about her ambition and resilience on the grimey ‘Adalam Va’, whereas latest single ‘Trip’ reminds fellow grafters that their output will solely be pretty much as good because the care they provide themselves.

The theme of discovering glee by life’s turbulence permeates the album. ‘One Approach Ticket’ celebrates togetherness with gang-like vocals and bouncy rhythms that seize the playfulness of the dancefloor. Household and group is rarely removed from Ragu’s ideas, both. ‘Hit The Bucket’ is a bass-laden ode to household jam classes, whereas the light Tamil-language nearer ‘Mani Osai’ is a collaboration uniting Ragu, her brother and their father. In the meantime, Ragu appears outwards on ‘Black Goose’/’Let Me Breathe’, written within the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. This monitor is a rallying cry of anger and solidarity that abates right into a heart-tugging plea for humanity to be higher and select love. In the end, with ‘Santhosam’, Ragu invitations the world to affix her on a non secular quest to be free.

Particulars

• Launch date: October 20, 2023
• File label: Warner