Raveena has announced her sophomore album Asha’s Awakening due February 11th via Warner Records. The forthcoming concept album tells the riveting tale of a space princess from ancient Punjab who, through a fantastic journey across the centuries, learns about love and loss, healing and destruction. Asha’s Awakening cascades through various musical eras for inspiration, melding the genre-defying influences of Alice Coltrane and Asha Puthli from the 60s and 70s with those of Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and M.I.A from the early 2000s. Album contributors include Grammy-nominated producer, Rostam, as well as Vince Staples, and the legendary Indian singer-songwriter herself, Asha Puthli.
In tandem with the album’s announcement, Raveena has shared the single “Secret” featuring Vince Staples. Inspired by early 2000s pop and the cinematic sounds of Bollywood, “Secret” is a dance-club-ready song about pursuing a lover. “Secret” drops with visuals directed by Raveena herself offering visual access to Asha’s alien-like realm. Adorned in traditional Indian jewelry, Raveena dances and suspends with aerial silks in a golden room while transcending in and out of her third eye. Watch it now below.
Raveena explains the meaning of “Secret”: “To me, ‘Secret’ is a song about love that traverses through different dimensions. People on Earth are starting to have sensual dreams ignited in them by a space princess – someone they feel like their body knows, but whom they also do not know and cannot reach in this dimension. What if your lover was enticing you from space and you couldn’t reach them in this realm? What if a spirit from an outer dimension ignited your sacral chakra? This is what ‘Secret’ explores.”
“Secret” follows the single “Rush,” which introduced listeners to the sonic world of Asha’s Awakening and arrived with visuals directed by Raveena and Munachi Osegbu.
Asha’s Awakening marks the first full-length offering from Raveena since her 2019 debut album Lucid, which them. said, “established Raveena as an emerging star” and thrust Raveena further into the conversation, showcasing her undeniable talent and multi-dimensionality as an artist by blending contemporary R&B with elements from the South Asian diaspora. Asha’s Awakening also follows 2020’s Moonstone EP and Raveena’s single “Tweety” released last year.