The Scotsman Sessions #434: Radhika with Sushil K Dade, Eric Macdonald and Paul Thomson
Welcome to the Scotsman Sessions, a series of short video performances from artists all around the country introduced by our critics. Here, Scots-Indian singer/songwriter Radhika performs Starry Eyes, taken from her recently-released debut album Cine-Pop
“I don’t remember a moment where music was not a huge part of my life,” says Radhika. “Ever since I entered this world the first sounds I heard were meditative chanting. Since that moment my infatuation has grown stronger each day.”
This 21-year-old Scots-Indian singer/songwriter hails from a time-honoured musical lineage. Her father and bandmate, Sushil K Dade, was a key member of the late 80s Bellshill indie community which spawned Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits and The Soup Dragons. He has also indulged his esoteric tastes in his psychedelic/dub Future Pilot AKA guise and remains proactive when it comes to nurturing provincial scenes in Helensburgh and now Paisley.
Radhika Meera Dade has happily and naturally joined the family business, writing songs from an early age. “I feel beyond lucky to have been brought up surrounded by my father’s eclectic vinyl collection,” she says. Her own music is a dreamy pop melange of bittersweet indie melodies laced with cinematic flourishes and instrumentals dedicated to cult director David Lynch and Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin. Her recently released debut album, featuring guest appearances from Scottish indie royalty such as ex-Teenage Fanclub member Gerry Love, Camera Obscura frontwoman Tracyanne Campbell and Mitch Mitchell from The Pastels, is suitably titled Cine-Pop.
“I make it a habit to go to the cinema once a week to immerse myself in a new world,” she says. “It is so engaging for all the senses and I always feel hugely inspired when walking out the movie theatre. I wanted to create an experience rather than an album. In fact, at some of our shows we even provide popcorn for our audience.”
Radhika has a busy summer of shows ahead, including appearances at the Glasgow Mela, the Merchant City Festival, Fringe by the Sea and retro indie fiesta Glas-GoesPop, which she describes as “my twee Glastonbury”.
She is also spreading the love beyond Scotland. As a vinyl lover and Assai Records employee, Radhika is unsurprisingly a fan of the Rough Trade label and record store mini-empire. She recorded her Scotsman Sessions rendition of album track Starry Eyes in their branch on London’s legendary Tin Pan Alley strip Denmark Street.
“Songwriting is my haven of security, my constant source of comfort, and Starry Eyes is a very personal song to me,” she says. “I wrote it after visiting my grandmother last year. She was showing me photos of her family, many of whom I never had the privilege of meeting. A few minutes after this shared experience my grandmother told me that she missed her mother. These words stuck with me long after this beautiful interaction. My grandma passed on from this world a few weeks ago and I wanted to feel her presence more than ever.”
In Memory of Soma Vati Dade, 1939-2026
Cine-Pop is out now on Glass Modern. Radhika plays Glasgow Mela, 5 July, with Thrum; Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 7 July and Cottiers, Glasgow 13 July, with Hen Hoose and Friends; Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 26 July; Merchant City Festival, Glasgow, 31 July; Fringe by the Sea, Musselburgh, 1 August; Glas-Goes Pop, GUU Debating Chamber, Glasgow, 14 August; and the Hug and Pint, Glasgow, 24 August.
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