EXCLUSIVE! ‘Reach Out’ by Nagavalli

Nagavalli: reaching out from Austin, TX

This week’s Monday track exclusive is the first ever video by Indian singer-songwriter Nagavalli, who is based in Austin, Texas

Our first exclusive this week comes from Nagavalli, an Indian artist now based in Austin, Texas. It’s the video for her new single Reach Out, which is Nagavalli’s first release since her debut album Eastern Soul, which came out in 2012. The single is available to buy now via iTunes and Bandcamp.

Nagavalli was born and raised in India, but moved to the US to do a master’s degree in Information Systems at Florida State University, after which she relocated to Austin to take up a job with a technology company. Once there, she got caught up in the local music scene and began writing and performing her own material, which led to the release of Eastern Soul, produced by award-winning local producer AJ Vallejo. ‘Eastern soul’ isn’t just the title of her album, it’s also how she describes her unique sound, which fuses western pop, soul and jazz with the melancholic lilt of Indian music.

Of the video itself, Nagavalli tells us: “The winter/holiday season, as joyous and fun as it can be for many, is also a time when loneliness can creep in, especially if one is away from family and friends, missing a loved one or going through some hardship. Reach Out is a reminder to do just that: to make space in our busy lives and reach out to our friends and loved ones, or to anyone in need really. The video is reflective of the mood of the song and shows the male protagonist lost in a maze and feeling desperate, and a friend comes reaching out to him. Loneliness can be dark and we tried not to shy away from reflecting this colour and mood in the video.”

Fans of artists such as Sheila Chandra and Indi Kaur should definitely be feeling this one, but does it have enough mainstream appeal to reach out beyond the small-but-vibrant market for ‘Desi’ music? See what you think…

Like that? Then find Nagavalli on Facebook, Twitter and Bandcamp, or at her own website.

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