Quiet Light (album release), A.L. West, Nova, Anga's Mill (DJ set)

In October 2021, Riya Mahesh debuted as Quiet Light on an unassuming Tuesday night at Hole in the Wall, thanks to a favor from friends made at UT-Austin radio station KVRX as a biology/math undergraduate. This Saturday, the singer-songwriter returns to the West Campus venue after her first year of medical school in Massachusetts to launch the project’s upcoming album, Fourth of July. Breathy and tender, Mahesh’s vocals echo through seven heart-on-sleeve confessionals and swell in a layered refrain on the centerpiece title track: “On your front porch, talking shit about our friends.”

“It really encompasses the feeling of being young,” says the 22-year-old. “The real things you have to worry about are just so small, and it’s freeing to reminisce on that and post-grad life … I think of the best days of my 20s, and I think of the Fourth of July. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s equate it – Fourth of July equals love.’ It’s sort of like naming the album Valentine’s Day for me.” Morphing the night into a family reunion, bandmate and close friend Nova opens with synth-led pop, and indie rockers A.L. West – who also played at Mahesh’s farewell show last June – follow with jangly riffage, while Anga’s Mill closes with a DJ set. Read our full interview with Mahesh online.