The quest for happiness can be a lifelong and often elusive journey, something Priya Ragu knows intimately. As the daughter of Sri Lankan refugees who fled from the country’s civil war, her childhood in the Swiss city of St Gallen was at Westernised odds with her Eastenised, Tamil heritage. How does one separate the expectations of their elders from their own dreams? And as someone navigating a cultural in-between space, is it ever possible to consolidate the two?
These are questions Ragu seeks to answer on her danceable yet thoughtful debut album ‘Santhosam’, which is named after the Tamil word for happiness. Dreaming big is not something that has ever phased Ragu; her debut mixtape, 2021’s ‘damnshetamil’, came about after she quit her job working for a Swiss airline and relocated to New York. It marked the start of her working relationship with her producer brother, Japhna Gold, that developed into a sonic style the duo coined ‘Raguwavy’. This floor-filling, South Asian-infused sound has grown ever more ambitious and experimental on ‘Santhosam’, with standouts ‘Uyiree’ and ‘Power’ delving into Sade-esque smoothness and cinematic jazz orchestrations respectively.
The album begins with a statement of intent on its forceful opening track. “I’ve got so much life in me that I should be living,” Ragu states on powerful opener ‘School Me Like That’ – a response to her grandmother asking why she still isn’t married. Underpinned by infectious tabla rhythms, the track explores the pressure on South Asian women to settle down, but also celebrates the joy Ragu has found in her own, more leftfield path. Ragu sings about her ambition and resilience on the grimey ‘Adalam Va’, while recent single ‘Vacation’ reminds fellow grafters that their output will only be as good as the care they give themselves.
The theme of finding glee through life’s turbulence permeates the album. ‘One Way Ticket’ celebrates togetherness with gang-like vocals and bouncy rhythms that capture the playfulness of the dancefloor. Family and community is never far from Ragu’s thoughts, either. ‘Hit The Bucket’ is a bass-laden ode to family jam sessions, while the gentle Tamil-language closer ‘Mani Osai’ is a collaboration uniting Ragu, her brother and their father. Meanwhile, Ragu looks outwards on ‘Black Goose’/’Let Me Breathe’, written in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. This track is a rallying cry of anger and solidarity that abates into a heart-tugging plea for humanity to be better and choose love. Ultimately, with ‘Santhosam’, Ragu invites the world to join her on a spiritual quest to be free.
