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''Asha's Awakening'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter
Raveena Raveena is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Raveena Ravi (born 1993), Indian voice actress * Raveena Tandon (born 1974), Indian actress, model, and producer ** Raveena Tandon filmography * Raveena Aurora (born 1993), Americ ...
, which was released through
Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
on February 11, 2022. The album was preceded by the singles "Rush" and "Secret". ''Asha's Awakening'' is a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...
from the point of view of a Punjabi space princess called Asha. Inspired by the history of South Asian music and influenced by 60s, 70s and early 2000s eras of South Asian musicians and Western musicians, the album goes around a character's journey called Asha who is a Punjabi space princess from ancient Punjab who learns that life is chaotic and it's full of ups and downs. Through this, the character learns to find peace as being a human. But in Aurora's perspective, the album explores her South Asian identity, her personal growth, the modern culture and her past relationships.


Background and release

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...
singer-songwriter
Raveena Raveena is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Raveena Ravi (born 1993), Indian voice actress * Raveena Tandon (born 1974), Indian actress, model, and producer ** Raveena Tandon filmography * Raveena Aurora (born 1993), Americ ...
, who is known for the release of her debut EP, ''Shanti'', in 2017. Her debut album, ''Lucid'', which was distributed by
Empire Distribution EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vario ...
, was released in 2019 which was critically acclaimed. In 2022, she signed to the major record label,
Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
, and she announced that she would release her second album, which was also her first major label debut, ''Asha's Awakening''. ''Asha's Awakening'' was released on February 11, following two singles from the album, "Rush" and "Secret" (featuring
Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to p ...
).


Writing and recording

Aurora, while in quarantine, described that out of boredom, she created the character after watching and getting inspired by sci-fi movies, Bollywood movies and
Punjabi folklore Punjabi folklore, more particularly its folksongs, is said to be the autobiography of its people. Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and s ...
. She wrote the entire story of the character at night. The character was illustrated in 2D by the illustrator Lili Tae. Aurora wrote on her
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
that "Asha is a Punjabi space princess from the 1600's who gets transported to a highly spiritually advanced distant planet named ‘Sanataan’, where she is trained by the Kamlesh aliens for 1000 years in spirituality and cosmic magic and eventually rules as a princess there".


Music and lyrics

''Asha's Awakening'' includes elements of R&B,
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, and disco, along with
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
instrumentation. The album explores Aurora's South Asian identity, her personal growth, the modern culture and her past relationships. The album has used and featured a lot of Indian instruments such as the
tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...
, the
electric sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...
, the swarmandel, the flute, the
Bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the '' ...
and the
kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic ...
.
Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few h ...
,
Asha Puthli Asha Puthli is a singer-songwriter, producer, and actress born on February 4, 1945 and raised in Bombay, India. She has recorded solo albums for EMI, CBS/Sony, and RCA. Her recordings cover blues, pop, rock, soul, funk, disco, and techno ...
,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
,
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
, M.I.A.,
Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
,
Missy Elliot Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...
,
Solange Solange (died 10 May, c. 880) was a Frankish shepherdess and a locally venerated Christian saint and cephalophore, whose cult is restricted to Sainte-Solange, Cher. Saint Solange was the patron of the traditional Province of Berry, of which ...
,
Jai Paul Jai Paul is an English songwriter, record producer and recording artist. His early demo " BTSTU" led to his online discovery and a subsequent recording contract with XL Recordings. Together with its follow-up "Jasmine", these songs have been re ...
,
Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired de ...
and
Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WA ...
are the main influences on the album. In some songs like "Rush", "Secret", "Magic", "Kismet" and "Asha's Kiss", while singing in English, she included different languages with
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
and Punjabi.


Promotion


Tour

To support her album ''Asha's Awakening'', Aurora has embarked on the ''Asha's Awakening'' Tour, her second headlining
concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
after three years. On social media, Aurora announced ''Asha's Awakening'' national tour. The tour covers North America with 21 dates. It was commenced on April 15, 2022, in
Indio, California Indio ( Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, east of Los Angeles, 148 mil ...
. While at Indio, she performed at Coachella 2022, making her the first woman of Indian descent to perform at Coachella. The tour was concluded on May 28, 2022, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.


Critical reception

''Asha's Awakening'' received widespread acclaim from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalised score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 81 based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". '' Clash'' rated the album eight out of ten and described it as "a sterling project from front to back. Part romance epic, part sci-fi R&B dreamcatcher, Raveena sounds better than ever before. ..The album is bold, eccentric and proudly rooted in classical South Asian traditions, whilst sounding fresh and accessible at the same time."
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
said that it is "a throat-clearing moment for the singer, drawing on both Western and South Asian inspirations and collaborations for a blend of dance-friendly R&B songs and soothing ballads, each of which stands on her distinctive, quiet strength." and rated it 7.5 out of ten. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' said that, "Mainstream pop music should clear some room for her: it would make things infinitely more interesting.", and rated it four stars. ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' said that, "If this is an awakening, consider our attention well and truly captive; clever, confident, and utterly comforting." and rated it four stars ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'', '' Clash'' and ''
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
'' included ''Asha's Awakening'' as the "Best Albums of 2022 So Far". The first single, "Rush", was named in the list as "The Best Songs of 2022 So Far" by ''Rolling Stone''. The second single "Secret", was named in the list as "R&B/Hip-Hop Fresh Picks of the Week" by ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''. On December 1, 2022, ''Asha's Awakening'' was included in ''Rolling Stones "The 100 Best Albums of 2022" and ranked in 84. Krool Toys created and released a video game in a
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...
inspired by ''Asha's Awakening''. The video game features the penultimate track, "Let Your Breath Become a Flower (Guided Meditation)".


Track listing


References

{{reflist 2022 albums Raveena Aurora albums Warner Records albums Soul albums by American artists Contemporary R&B albums by American artists Pop albums by American artists Jazz albums by American artists