Quiet Light’s liminal bedroom pop

Quiet Light once said she wanted her music to “feel like a dream sequence.” It’s an apt comparison for someone whose pop songs feel as bleary and spectral as they are lyrical, spiritually tethered to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Julee Cruise performing “The World Spins” at The Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. “I listen to the soundtrack in full at least once a week,” she tells AP, in the days following Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2’s release. “It’s my go-to album when I don’t know what to play. ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ is my favorite.”

Riya Mahesh is the Austin-bred med student behind Quiet Light, whose classical upbringing, restless ambition, and self-taught production style result in otherworldly collages of sound. That first took form when she released her self-titled debut EP in September 2020, produced by William Valero, though challenging herself to learn Logic through a three-month demo version soon made Quiet Light a true solo endeavor. What followed were three full-length projects — Fourth of July, Blue Angel Sparkling Silver, and I Love You Because You’re In Love With the World — released throughout 2023. However, Mahesh didn’t believe that her music could get realer than uploading dispatches from her laptop until True Panther offered to sign her.

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Recorded out of her Texan bedroom in between school breaks, Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2, a sequel to her 2023 mixtape, proves her growth from the last three years, filtering her memories through a hodgepodge of genres. “Berlin” is a blurry timeline of melancholy and disconnection, set against wistful Auto-Tune; “Self Tape” is bathed in jagged new wave; “You Say I Love You” ripples outward, melding folk with stuttering dance beats. Other songs on Blue Angel 2 demonstrate her ability to create warm, gorgeously layered pop that feels as expansive as traversing an open-world RPG, flipping from mood to mood.

Up next, Quiet Light will play a cluster of headline shows — her first ones ever — in support of Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2, hitting the same intimate-sized venues that she came up in. Before those performances, she walked AP through the making and meaning behind her latest LP.

How do you prevent the relentless grind of medical school from killing your creativity? What do you do to fuel yourself and maintain a balance?

Honestly, I don’t think medical school is as hard as people think it is. I think residency is very difficult, but there are a lot of built-in breaks in medical school to prevent burnout. Those breaks are when I feel the most creative, but ultimately it’s all about balance. Sometimes being away from a song for a month or two due to the pressures of school helps me craft the best version of the song because it becomes this more longitudinal process. Also, all musicians who aren’t like Clairo-big have other jobs, and it’s all about making it work for yourself. If you truly love music, you will make time for it. 

Tell me about the intention behind Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2. I listened to it this morning on my headphones, and it was honestly peak, especially the first minute of “Miniskirt” where it’s just this sustained radiance as the sun started to shine through.

WOW, thank you so much . It’s so funny because “Miniskirt” was one of the first songs that I wrote for the record. I was on a bus in Boston in April 2024, and it was raining. I was wearing a miniskirt and was mesmerized by the sun shining through the clouds. I think that’s precisely the radiance that I was trying to capture, so I’m really glad that it comes through sonically. The intention with Blue Angel 2 was to have fun. Music had gotten so serious for me, and I had just gotten so bogged down by the concept of song structure and rules. I just wanted to make something that was ruleless and dreamy. I never thought I would put it out on a label or that people would be interested in it, but here we are.

Is there a story behind the sample that appears at the end of “Self Tape” (“Can I spread my gray wings flat against the ceiling, yelling to your ear…”)? That’s one of my favorite tracks — the constant motion of it all.

My friend, Thom Waddill, is the singer in this Austin band called Font. I had been a fan of Font for a while, and I asked Thom to send me a voice memo of one of his poems. I then spliced the voice memo and sort of used his words as the lyrics for the song. I love “Self Tape.” It’s a really special one to me because it feels especially free.

Your work feels meticulously layered and made. Are you a perfectionist?

Perfection is the enemy of good. No, I’m not a perfectionist.

Because you’ve said that you want your music to resemble a dream sequence, what’s your favorite David Lynch project and why?

David Lynch . I love Twin Peaks the most. I know that’s a very basic answer, and I do love his movies, but it just doesn’t get better for me than Twin Peaks. I think I watched it at a very transformative time in college, and it really opened my mind to new and absurd ideas. I listen to the Twin Peaks soundtrack in full at least once a week. It’s my go-to album when I don’t know what to play. “Laura Palmer’s Theme” is my favorite.

You opened a couple of dates of Erika de Casier’s Lifetime tour last year, whom you called one of your favorite artists. What did you take away from that experience? How did her audience receive you?

Erika is an incredible musician and person. She was so kind to me on tour, and seeing her onstage every night was such a dream. I think she’s sort of a role model for me. Her fans are so nice, especially her LA fans! That was one of my favorite shows that I’ve ever played.

You’re about to play your own release shows next month. What have you been doing to prepare for your upcoming run? Who will be joining your band?

I’ve been practicing a new set that I think feels elevated from my previous sets. My band is just me. It’s getting lonely touring alone, though, so maybe I’ll get a band soon. These are my first headlining U.S. shows, so that’s really exciting.