Priya Ragu [LIVE]

About

Tamil-Swiss artist Priya Ragu returns to Australia this November for two headline shows, landing at Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney and The Night Cat in Melbourne.

Over the past five years, Ragu has been carving out a sound that seems to exist in several places at once. Her self-described Raguwavy moves through R&B, hip-hop, soul and electronic music, threaded with the folk rhythms, melodies and instrumentation of her Tamil heritage. Tabla rhythms sit beneath low-slung basslines. Tamil melodies drift through warped synths and warm, analogue grooves. Her voice moves between the intimate and the ecstatic.

She first emerged with 2021's damnshestamil, a mixtape that introduced the world to a singular new voice through tracks including ‘Good Love 2.0’ and ‘Chicken Lemon Rice’. Its arrival brought a BBC Sound Poll nomination, a show-stealing appearance on Later… with Jools Holland and a feature on Jungle's Loving In Stereo, placing Ragu in a musical conversation that stretched well beyond the confines of R&B.

Her 2023 debut album SANTHOSAM, Tamil for happiness, opened that world further. Made alongside her brother and producer Japhna Gold, the record slips between earthy soul, disco, hip-hop, pop and Tamil instrumentation, with songs that can feel simultaneously ancient and futuristic. There is a warmth to the record, but also a sense of movement, as if its rhythms are carrying something forward.

That instinct has continued to pull Ragu towards the edges of the dancefloor. In 2024,…