SALEKA’S LADY RAVEN (Original Music From The Motion Picture TRAP) and M. Night Shyamalan’s latest feature-length film TRAP are out today. Following a global swell of palpable excitement from early screenings across the world, fans can now enjoy the true Shyamalan experience in both sound and vision, thanks to this unique concert-thriller and father-daughter combo.
Chief songwriter and producer on all 14 tracks, the Pennsylvania-born singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist SALEKA crafted and composed each song entwined with her father’s script from beginning to end. Her music and the story symbiotically depend on one another, as the film’s nail-biting narrative evolves. SALEKA conjures an incomparable sound from a confluence of classical training since childhood, a lifelong passion for R&B, and her Indian heritage. In TRAP, her character “Lady Raven” performs a powerhouse concert as a gripping and thrilling story unfolds.
“There’s a duality to the Soundtrack,” she notes. “I wanted to make an album for me that’s in a genre I love. At the same time, every song was made for a specific scene with clear intention. Having the external storyline made the process even freer though. I could write in a way that was even more authentic since I wasn’t thinking about me. So, I didn’t edit myself as much. I expressed another side of who I am.”
SALEKA and her dad, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, had always shared an appreciation for music-driven films and long dreamed of a collaboration. They essentially built TRAP from kitchen table conversations. “Purple Rain is one of our favorite movies,” she says. “Film and music often go hand in hand in our culture, they are equally important in Bollywood movies. The concept for Trap came from family conversations in the kitchen about wanting to bring these two art forms together in our own way. I wrote a lot of the songs at my parent’s house in the living room. This project felt like home, but allowed me to try musical ideas I never had before. It’s so pure and special to me.”
Transcending sonic and cultural boundaries, her inspirations remain entrenched in family, experience, and truth. SALEKA quietly pulls the strings from behind the curtain as a methodical composer and producer. Accenting earthy production and live instrumentation with unexpected elements like tablas and flute. She shares. “I was always surrounded by Indian culture and music from my family, so even if a song is based on R&B and pop, I’m going to incorporate different elements into the DNA of the production. It’s like I’m hinting at a color that’s very specific to me and who I am in everything I do.”
Boasting previously released fan-favorites, singles”Save Me”, “Release” and “DIVINE” Ft. Kid Cudi, the album features 11 previously unheard gems from the film, as well as contributions from special guests Russ, and Amaarae, blending SALEKA‘s skillful lyricism to film and distinct dark-pop-R&B production and tonality.
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