Between her debut mixtape 'damnshestamil' and her recent single "Illuminous”, the Tamil-Swiss talent Priya Ragu is ticking off all of the big achievements that will set her up for huge things in 2023.
Photo by blackksocks
She's earned huge support at Radio 1 including playlists for both "Lockdown" and "Illuminous”, made an incredible debut TV performance on ‘Later...', had a major sync on Netflix's rapturously received film ‘Wedding Season’ and was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2022.
Factor in tastemaker acclaim and further nominations from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, MTV, Spotify and VEVO, and it's clear that Priya is destined for the top.
Now Priya once again fires up with her new single “Adalam Va!”, which translates loosely as “'Let's Dance!" And as her most vibrant cocktail of electrifying electro-pop and soul-stirring South Indian sonics, that's exactly the reaction it inspires. Above the rattling rhythms, warped synths and thumping dub bass, Priya's voice rises like a beacon of positivity.
Priya says, “'Adalam Va!' is about hope in the darkest of days. It's about the fresh energy that emerges out of these times. We wanted to express that feeling through this song and to get everyone on the dancefloor!"
The accompanying video for “Adalam Va!" is Priya's most ambitious video to date. It raises the bar in terms of visual elegance, choreography and pure physicality with Priya mastering an eye-catching array of intense martial arts moves and energising dance routines. It's also a love letter to international cinema with numerous references to Tarantino's classics as well as the 1991 Tamil-language crime epic “Thalapathi” - a blend best described as The Tamiltino Effect. The vibrant visual is further elevated by the striking splendour of its location,
Strawberry Hill House & Garden. Priya adds, "I've always wanted to shoot a video where dance moves and fighting combine together, which is well out of my comfort zone. It was a huge challenge for me to do these movements, with no prior experience, but we did it!"
The wider “Adalam Va!" campaign champions a team of top tier South Asian creative talents, led by Priya and the track's producer, her brother Japhna Gold. The video was directed by Sasha Nathwani of Caviar, a three time Best Video nominee at the BRIT Awards whose visuals for the likes of Becky Hill and Izzy Bizu have exceeded a billion views on YouTube. Meanwhile, the accompanying photoshoot was captured by blackksocks, a photographer and director whose credits include Arlo Parks, The 1975 and Pink Pantheress.
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