Gillian Welch, Tirzah, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, a dash of Bladee – the deft hands of Quiet Light’s Riya Mahesh juggle these seemingly disparate influences with poise on Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2. Marking her debut for tastemaking NYC label True Panther, the release signals her rapidly rising star in the white-hot world of experimental pop.
The people and landscapes of her native Texas remain an inexhaustible well of inspiration. The credits list brims with notable contributions from longtime Austin friends and collaborators: dance floor-ready “Self Tape” features trance-y musings from Font’s Thom Waddill and pulsing drumlines from Nova’s Wes Simms, while Evan Ryckebusch and Nico Fennell of Photokem provide cello and synthesizer, respectively, on standout closer “You Say I Love You.”
Heartbreak casts a long shadow over much of the mixtape, and Mahesh’s choice of settings reveals a Lana Del Rey-esque fixation on big moments that transform seemingly mundane spaces: crying in the car, sex in the kitchen, fights in the living room. Amidst Auto-Tune flirtations and swaths of – well, sparkling – synths, though, the weight of these episodes never oppresses. With a wink and a nod, Mahesh lets us in on a secret: There’s no better time to luxuriate in a “New Dream” than in the throes of brokenheartedness.
This article appears in May 29 • 2026.