It’s Native American Heritage month, but hopefully we’re all hip to the fact that an “American Indian” is not the same thing as an Indian-American. That’s important because today we’re shining the spotlight on Avara Ellorie, best known by her mononym Avara.

Born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Avara’s pilgrimage from one musical metropolis to another has led to her latest home base here in Austin. And it’s here that her journey as a songwriter and producer – one that began with a Taylor Swift record back in grade school – has really begun making impressions on listeners. With her Indian heritage front and center to her lyrical identity, Avara avoids any obvious Eastern instrumental influences in her arrangements, instead absorbing the best of modern Western R&B to create an accessible, lush brand of soundscapes – somewhere between Alina Baraz, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd.

And 2023’s proven awfully auspicious for Avara, considering she’s dropped a handful of singles (whose aesthetic alternates between all caps and strictly lowercase) ahead of her debut EP – out next February. And today, just in time for the weekend, we received that inaugural EP’s final lead single “BABY BLUE BEAMER” – a rock-oriented R&B banger that lets off the gas pedal to coast through nearly three minutes of breathy falsetto, hypnotic vocal effects, glued-to-the-pavement percussion, and tire-screeching guitar – all for a cinematic getaway chase of pensive sensuality.

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