Premiere: Peekay Is ‘No Ordinary’ Rocker in New Video Off ‘Starlight’

Peekay aka Pranati Khanna’s new album Starlight is dedicated to anyone that loved rock, pop and alt rock growing up and the Hyderabad artist-entrepreneur says it’s “especially” for the “emo kids.”

The six-track record comes with a music video for “No Ordinary,” which stands testament to Peekay’s love for adrenaline-fueled, openhearted rock. The video – directed by Apoo Mahi and Hari Charan – features Peekay, Mahi, and classical dancers Vaibhav Modi and Nenita Praveen. The surging song is Peekay’s way of delivering a rock anthem for all those who consider themselves “a little left of center.” She adds in a statement, “It’s okay to be 30 and unmarried, running a digital marketing agency and releasing rock music independently amidst a sea of hip-hop and Bollywood. Be honest to who you are because amidst this world of posers, being authentic is indeed ‘No Ordinary’ thing.”

Starlight comes after a number of genre experiments from Peekay, including more pop and R&B songs like “Squeaky Clean” and “Sunshine on the Street” (with Shillong artist and actor Andrea Tariang) in 2022. The artist, who admits she was trying “fitting in with the cool kids” on prior material, describes it as a “cathartic” experience to put out Starlight. She adds, “Jazz and R&B makes me good money for commercial gigs but I can’t write honestly in that genre for shit. I couldn’t. This album is the proudest moment for me and this album is my most honest and possibly best lot of songwriting till date and the beginning of a much heavier sound to come.”

She harkens back to her days leading indie rock band The Ragamuffins (who later became Spell Check) and feels she needs to go back to that if she ever intends to be happy as an artist. “The point of being an artist Is to be honest with yourself. Release music. Tell real stories. Be honest. Raw. I wasn’t doing that with R&B/pop. I always did that with rock,” she adds.

As it turns out, the rock songs were being written for Starlight over the last three years, even as Peekay was releasing more pop, jazz and R&B-informed singles. Produced Jonathan Edward and mixed and mastered by Keshav Dhar, the album starts with a sparkling intro and kicks into gear with “What a Shame” that entices with a guitar solo, while “Fever Dream” chugs along at a hair-raising, emo-turned-grand pace. “No Ordinary” is the steely centerpiece of Starlight, while there’s more trippy terrain explored on “Wanna Be Bad.” The title track closes the record, with Peekay’s storytelling voice shining through best on a prog-leaning tune.

Peekay says it won’t be too much of a challenge to take Starlight on the road, considering that she’s always had a rock band. She adds, “The rock band had to alter their minds to fit the R&B/pop avatar for the last year or so. So Eddy, Alex, Rex and I are just happy to be back to our original selves, comfortable in our own skin and playing rock. Like back when we were The Ragamuffins, if anyone remembers us.”

Watch the video for “No Ordinary” below. Stream ‘Starlight’ here.