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“Raveena Is at home – Utilizing Virtual Performances as a Means to Continue to Spread Love and Light”

Raveena is still finding a way to share her healing and peaceful energy to the world by housing her own performances in the comfort of her backyard. It’s an incredibly intimate space that Raveena is inviting us into – only her and her guitarist Aaron are within view.

Aaron is strumming strings as Raveena sings angelic harmonies under a ripe lemon tree. It looks as if Raveena has specifically chosen golden hour to perform a couple of songs off her EP, “Moonstone,” that dropped back in February. They are both surrounded by greenery, sittings criss-cross applesauce amongst the fresh dew and grass – the sun spotlighting and kissing their faces between song breaks. 

Raveena immediately kicks off her virtual performance by sending out a message of love and light by addressing the trying times that we find ourselves all engulfed in. Even when Raveena is just merely speaking, her voice carries pureness to it – like a bird, everything that comes out of her lips sounds indefinitely like a song. “I’m Raveena, and this is my friend Aaron on guitar. We are here, in sunny California, on a beautiful afternoon, on planet earth in strange, strange conditions.” 

It’s the way that Raveena is able to acknowledge the notion of beauty and hardship coexisting at once within the earth that makes her spirit so utterly transcendent. She recognizes the beauty of nature that surrounds her while also not shying away from the level of suffering that is going on around the world right now. Here, she becomes the embodiment of gratitude – trying to spread her positive energy by using music as a source of therapy. 

The world needs Raveena’s therapeutic and cleansing aura desperately – she seems to know this intuitively, as she embarks on finding creative ways to bring those medicinal qualities she harnesses to her fans safely. 

Photo Credit to @raveena_aurora

The first song Raveena performs is her popular, dreamy single “Headaches.” “Headaches” tells the tale of a queer love story. Raveena serenades the lemon tree with notions of what it feels like to fall in love with a girl – a whirlwind of intense emotions ensues a lovesick diagnosis, leaving her dizzy with headaches. Raveena is adorned in a red bindi while sporting cascading braids, wearing a bralette and flowy magenta pants – she looks and sounds like the epitome of freedom. 

Raveena chose to center this performance around her growing desire for love and physical touch through her song selection. The next song she performs is, “Close 2 U.” This song encompasses just how painful it is to mourn the loss of intimacy and affection – something that in the wake of a pandemic, we are all undergoing right now and can relate to strongly.  

The lyrics of “Close 2 U” reflect this notion of music as being the ultimate source of serenity, calmness, and tranquility. Raveena is reflecting on the way music is used as a method for parents to rock their babies to sleep – lullabies have always been a major tool to help silence the tears and alleviate fear just enough for a deep sleep to ensue.

She sings, “You’re in love with a singer, so I sing you to bed. Just like a little baby, and I start to pretend that you cannot leave tomorrow. The summer’s just begun. You know we have our problems. The distance ruins us.”

Photo Credit to Pinterest.com

Not only is Raveena bringing out the power music has to alleviate stress and pain – but she is also speaking into existence the power music has to bring people together, to make us feel close to one another while maintaining distance. Here in this single, it is the profound level of isolation and space she is expressing that makes us feel so inexplicably less alone. 

She decided to close out her performance by covering an infamous D’Angelo track, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – which various artists have also chosen to cover and create their own renditions of over the years.

Raveena pays respect to D’Angelo, by citing that he is one of her “all-time favorite musicians” that she seeks out for inspiration when it comes to the making of her own music. She also pays homage to the great Roberta Flack who was the original creator of “Feel like Makin Love.” 

Once again, Raveena is subtly driving home the need to seek out and call upon inspiration at this time. It’s apparent that Raveena’s intention throughout her entire performance was to honor her devotion to love and spreading it – but this finale really brings that message home. 

Raveena introduces the title of the song she is about to cover, “This song is called “Feel like Makin Love” and it feels like tonight…if things were normal and I was able to be with someone I love on a nice spring night.” 

This overwhelming desire that Raveena has to express love is so evident – love for humanity, love for the planet, love for her loved ones. Her undying faith that she has towards demonstrating the act of love is palpable through the screen. 

Her final thoughts are conveying one last message of love and light – but also validating the immense pain, illness, or loss that is taking place right now on a global level. 

“I just want to say that my heart really goes out to anyone suffering the worst effects of this: people who are losing family members, who are getting sick, who have lost jobs, who don’t know where their next meal is coming from – people working on the front lines..my heart really goes out to you and I love you. I hope the world heals soon. Thank you so much for sharing a little time with us.”

Maddy Ipema

My name is Maddy Ipema, and you can usually find me with headphones blaring and a book on my lap! I am a senior at Columbia College Chicago, where I am majoring in fiction writing. I love writing in all forms, and mostly work in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry! Music is my main source of inspiration for life as well as my writing!

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