Raveena’s music unfurls slowly, dwelling in wistfully recounted dreams and a rich vein of feminine energy that winds through her relationships with family and the natural world. Her songs have always been intimate and personal, but the lead single from her forthcoming album, Asha’s Awakening, channels these interests through a new persona. “Rush” is sung from the perspective of Asha, a “Punjabi space princess” living on a foreign planet and learning “highly advanced spiritual intelligence” from its inhabitants.

The perspective shift leads Raveena into a more exuberant sound, with a twisting beat that incorporates South Asian drums and touches of slippery, psychedelic synth. The song hits its stride at the chorus, which foregrounds Raveena’s shimmery falsetto, embodying the headrush of being around Asha, a woman “made of music” who “could cure everything.” By creating abstract narratives and characters grounded in her own experience as an Indian American artist, Raveena brings a joyous curiosity to the forefront of her music and gives her imagination room to grow.