Raveena’s Border-Breaking Pop Sunshine
RAVEENA AURORA is a singer-songwriter who exalts in the spaces between R&B, folk, and pop. Her bright-hued 2019 album, Lucid, got her on some best-of lists, and now she’s upping her game with her major-label debut, Asha’s Awakening. Raveena, who grew up in Connecticut and Queens, New York, draws on her Indian roots, mixing Bollywood influences into songs like the dreamy “Asha’s Kiss,” featuring iconic artist Asha Puthli, and the radiantly pretty single “Rush,” which cleverly riffs on notions of exotic desire over a transporting hand-clap groove. It’s the sound of self-discovery drawn from many sources. JON DOLAN