Raveena’s new release ‘Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain’ flutters into the summer with good vibrations

As the dog days of summer have kicked into full swing, listeners can cool off with the mellow R&B pop on Raveena’s latest release “Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain.”

With pastel tones and dreamlike soundscapes, her new album plays with sound like raindrops on leaves. Utilizing both modern pop styling and traditional Indian instrumentation, “Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain” puts up enough good vibrations to draw the listener into a floral otherworld.

New York’s Raveena utilizes her taste for the obscure to elevate this album above J-Lo’s “This Is Me… Now” and other sunny R&B with a special soulful vigor. Some highlight tracks are “Pluto,” “Every Color,” and “Smile For Me.”

“Pluto” holds luscious bass guitar work reminiscent of a late 90s ballad: it’s elevated by a jangled and possibly 12 string accompanying electric guitar. Lyrics recalling an old friend or lover are delivered in her archetypal ethereal style. Here, Raveena captures the mystique of a fleeting summertime daydream.

“Every Color” comes four tracks into this album and immediately captures the attention of the listener with the sounds of an evening in July: humming cicadas, followed immediately by a warm nylon string classical guitar and soft, muffled voices. The track then leads directly into a full accompaniment of instruments more commonly found in Indian music and a soulful verse from Raveena. Diverse instrumentation is difficult to do well, but this track makes it sound effortless.

“Smile For Me” is the odd song out for this album, with a much more traditional instrumentation akin to an evolution on early work from the Temptations. This simple form doesn’t mean it’s not an engaging song, with Raveena’s virtuoso vocals providing a focal point for the listener as they drift in and out of the groove of an electric piano (think of Grover Washington Jr.’s hit “Just The Two Of Us”) accompanied by a funky electric guitar flourishing over the steady beat.