Raveena – “Temptation”

For the past two years or so, R&B songstress Raveena (Raveena Aurora) has been releasing slow, lush songs about female empowerment–a niche that she’s been slowly dominating with the releases of last year’s Shanti EP and the slew of singles that she’s put out this year. “Temptation”, her latest, follows this same trend and fits snugly into Raveena’s shimmering, soulful world.

Raveena – “Temptation” single cover.

As a song written for the titular “Miss Temptation”, a character/metaphorical figure who Raveena comfortably trusts (even telling her “things [she] can’t tell her boyfriend”), “Temptation” is a triumphant anthem of female admiration. Raveena delicately sings about her “softness”, her “head of curls”, and even her “curves”, appreciating feminine beauty in all of its forms. But “Temptation” is not strictly a love song to a certain person per say–rather it’s an open celebration of all types of women . She even suggests the open possibility of giving into her temptations if things were different–“You feed my soul that priciest affair / And I know we’re supposed to be just friends”. Just friends or not, “Temptation” is a declarative ode to female beauty.

Accompanying the release of “Temptation” is also another one of Raveena’s self-directed videos which offer us a further glimpse into her dreamy world. It’s worth noting that although each video’s production quality has gotten better and better throughout the years, Raveena still brings forth the same motifs in her videos even now–feminine appreciation, 70s influenced visuals and (of course) her signature flower petals! One of the more interesting additions this time around is a snake that wanders around in the video (given the symbolism of snakes in regards to temptation), and that alone is definitely worth a watch.

Artist pages: Facebook | Spotify

Check out “Temptation” and other Asian/Asian-American music on our Discovery Playlist!

Li-Wei Chu

Li-Wei Chu is the chief editor of From the Intercom. When he’s not editing drafts and searching for new artists to cover for the website, he loves watching cult films, cooking, and listening to his ever-growing collection of vinyl records. You can follow him on LetterBoxd and make fun of his taste in movies here!