1 month ago
18
Radhika never thought “Starry Eyes” would be a single, let alone her first song released beyond Bandcamp. Making music with her personal heroes, Gerard Love (Teenage Fanclub) and Mitch Mitchell (The Pastels), has been nothing short of a surreal experience for the Glaswegian singer-songwriter. Following her debut single “Future Me”, which received airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music, “Starry Eyes” takes Radhika’s journey as a budding indie-pop darling a step further. It’s the first track off her upcoming debut album CINE POP, something she hopes will transport listeners on a “technicolour cinematic journey.”
Watching the experimental music video for “Starry Eyes” feels like a half-remembered dream. Floating shapes and colours merge and reach through the screen while Radhika strums her guitar, smiling playfully. The swirling visuals of the music video and the hazy sound of the song blend together and resemble an early childhood memory of a world unfamiliar and untapped. It’s psychedelic, echoey, a soft picture of the 60s.
It wasn’t completely unsurprising when Radhika revealed to BEST FIT that the films of the late David Lynch has had a resounding influence on her work. “In 2024, I really delved into [Lynch’s] work and was really just infatuated with his creative vision. It’s so unique,” she says. “The band and I worked really hard on creating this cinematic, lived-in experience. We’re splitting [the album] into different segments for it to feel like an actual cinema piece. There’s a part one and a part two, all these details form this intricate album format.”
Radhika is captivated by a multitude of music eras and genres, but the 1960s have left the strongest impression by far: “When I was writing ‘Starry Eyes’, I was in this huge 60s music phase. I was super influenced by The Left Banke. They were a really cool 60s band and they didn’t get as much love as they deserved, but they’re quite The Birds-esque.” However, the bittersweet moment Radhika shared with her grandmother in late spring last year also had a strong influence over the song: “While I was looking through old pictures of my grandmother, she gently whispered, ‘I miss my mom.’ You never really hear older people say such words, and those words had really left an echo and landed in this soft, delicate place within me. Soon after this really intimate interaction, ‘Starry Eyes’ landed.”
The song's gentle refrain, “I don’t wanna feel the way I do when I’m not with you”, softly settles within the listener, landing similarly to the words whispered by Radhika’s grandmother, a sad pang of a heartfelt memory infused with a sweet 60s melody. “I was brought up surrounded by this huge eclectic collection of records,” she reminisces. “I owe all my music taste to my dad… The most fond memories I have as a child are digging through his collection. I feel so eternally blessed that I’ve had the chance to explore such a variety of music from such a young age.”
Radhika’s Indian heritage is another pillar upholding the story behind “Starry Eyes” and CINE POP, as an ode to the appreciation she has for her culture. “In ‘Starry Eyes,’ we used a tanpura, which is usually used in classical Indian music,” she says. “It added to the psychedelic effect… the drones of the tanpura machine and the swirling layers of the synthesiser really add to that kind of ethereal-celestial feel.”
Being an Indian artist in the Glasgow scene has its challenges, in a space that doesn’t always feel carved out for minority groups. Radhika’s embrace of her heritage has not only been a tool to help craft the sound of “Starry Eyes”, but it’s shaped who she is an artist. “It’s really special to grow up and feel even more appreciative of my culture, and exploring the sounds is such a special experience,’ she adds. “In the Glasgow scene, it’s getting more diverse, but there’s improvements to be made. When I look around in Glasgow, I don’t think there are any other women of colour making music. It’s sometimes challenging to pave your way through a scene that is so westernised. But change is happening, slowly but surely.”
Following the release of “Starry Eyes”, Radhika is looking forward to the year ahead: “I’m so grateful that my music is getting to a point where I can gig more regularly. We’ve got our first gigs outside of Glasgow this year, which is really exciting. I’m playing London, supporting Gerard Love, and also Wor_kspace, an electronic band from Glasgow. In February, I’m also supporting Debbie Googe of My Bloody Valentine, which is an absolute dream come true.”
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