UKNY for March 6

Partly inspired by British-Tamil musician M.I.A., Swiss-Tamil singer, rapper, and producer Priya Ragu has found her own exuberant way to blend her Tamil heritage with hip hop, R&B, pop, rock, and soul. Last fall, she released her fantastic debut mixtape, damnshestamil, a collaboration with her brother, the producer JaphnaGold. The joyful swagger of damnshestamil, and singles like "Kamili" and "Chicken Lemon Rice," won the London-based Ragu a flock of new fans (like me) and the attention of the tastemakers for the BBC Sound of 2022, which placed her on their longlist of ten artists. Ragu, who left her day job with an airline just last year, released a brand new single on Wednesday which gets its "UKNY" debut tonight at 11 p.m.

Priya Ragu deserves to be one of the big breakout stars of SXSW this month too — she's headed to Austin — and I'll also get to a few other Texas-bound British and Irish artists, like Scottish-Sudanese grungy folk-rocker Eliza Shaddad, Dublin's rocking Pillow Queens, and buzzy Dundalk shoegazers Just Mustard.

Manchester's Porij, who were part of SXSW's online coverage last year, have skated into a new single and Londoner Nilüfer Yanya has finally released her gorgeous and visceral second album, PAINLESS. Northern Irish-Dutch duo Fräulein have blithely dropped another staggeringly good single, as has Cardiff's Gwenno, whose forthcoming album Tresor will be mostly sung in Cornish, one of her three native languages.

That and more ahead on the internationally-minded "UKNY," Sundays from 11 p.m.-midnight, with a reminder of "International Women's Day" on March 8 and FUV's wall-to-wall women that day on 90.7. Catch up to "UKNY" in the Weekend Archives on demand too.

Tonight's show is dedicated to the inspiring and courageous people of Ukraine. If you're looking for resources and ways that you can help, here's some verified places to start via NPR, WFUV News, and The Obama Foundation.

Songs played:
1. Nilüfer Yanya, “anotherlife,” PAINLESS
2. Porij, “Figure Skating,” single
3. (Zürich, CH-London, UK) Priya Ragu, “Illuminous,” single
4. (Dundalk, IE) Just Mustard, “Still,” Heart Under
5. Gwenno, “An Stevel Nowydh,” Tresor
6. Little Simz and Cleo Sol, “Woman,” Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
7. Cleo Sol, “Music,” Mother
8. Fräulein, “Drag Behind,” single
9. (Dublin, IE) Pillow Queens, “Hearts & Mind,” Leave the Light On
10. Eliza Shaddad, “Fine & Peachy,” The Woman You Want
11. Penelope Isles, “Play It Cool (radio edit),” Which Way to Happy
12. (Melbourne, AU) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “Tidal River,” Endless Rooms
13. Nubya Garcia, “Pace (Moses Boyd remix),” SOURCE ⧺ We Move