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Raveena ft: JPEGMAFIA - Junebug (Single)

Photo credit: Isha Dipika Walia

Following the announcement of her album Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain that is due June 14th via Empire, Raveena shares her new single “Junebug” featuring JPEGMAFIA. On the song, Raveena continues to embrace early 2000’s pop and the influence of classic R&B hitmakers while accentuating the album’s central themes of romance and repose. The new song evokes a sweaty summer sensuality. Raveena loved working with JPEGMAFIA on the song, placing his vocals in an entirely new setting filled with an abundance of live instrumentation.

Speaking about working with JPEGMAFIA, Raveena shares, “I love inviting people with vastly different sonic landscapes to my music. To me, it is proof of our oneness and divine inter-connectedness. JPEGMAFIA brought the perfect energy to this summertime song - and I think we both aligned on this song with our mutual love for the tropics, with me being from India and Peggy from Jamaica.”

Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain sees music continuing to play the central role as both a catalyst and medium in her personal and creative growth. With newfound clarity, Raveena delves into themes of new love, maturity and comfort that reflect the peace of mind she currently inhabits. Speaking on this evolution and how it informed the album’s creative, she shares, “Butterflies are so delicate that they have to hide in leaves and flowers until the rain passes so that their wings don’t get crushed in the rain. I felt like that was kind of a metaphor for where I was in my life. I needed to go back to comfort—to deep rest—and stop weathering storms.” On the most instinctual level it’s an album that should conjure simple pleasures like the joy of a summer road trip with loved ones.

Embracing the sounds of classic artists like Fleetwood Mac, Brandy, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, and Marvin Gaye, to name a few, Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain draws inspiration from people who, “are really good at capturing the beauty and loss of life in the same breath,” she describes. In her signature style, Raveena seamlessly unites that expansive songwriting with traditional Indian instruments and feel-good early 2000s pop hits —putting forth a work that’s more unabashedly herself than any that’s come before.

In the two years since releasing Asha’s Awakening, Raveena has toured nationally and internationally, become the first woman of Indian heritage to perform solo at Coachella, and recently completed her Saturn Return—welcoming a season of growth, transformation, and calm that’s central to her newest full-length offering. Raveena reflects on her forthcoming album, “I don't think I've ever understood a record so well before—It wasn’t like the process I used to have with past albums where I was more anxious about being at my best. This time, it was all intuition, and I knew the album was right when I finally had the feeling of rest.”

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