At just 18, Tenkasi, India-based singer and artist Rishi Ulaganathan is already building a musical identity that stretches far beyond a single tradition. Having studied Carnatic music since 2018, Ulaganathan moves comfortably between Tamil classical music, English melodies and pop, bringing together different musical worlds with an ambition for a genuinely global sound. “Family,” however, comes from a deeply personal place.
The song was composed on the day of his aunt’s funeral, an occasion made particularly painful by the thought of her ten-year-old son growing up without his mother. In that moment of grief, Ulaganathan was also reminded of his own mother’s miraculous survival from a brain tumour, making the loss feel even more intimate. Out of that sorrow came a simple realization: friends may come and go, but family remains. Rather than turning that thought into something grandiose, “Family” lets it settle quietly into its music.
Acoustic folk melodies give the track a gentle, almost weightless foundation, while Ulaganathan sings with a hypnotic, trance-like calm. His delivery moves in close step with the instruments, creating the sensation that his voice is another thread woven into the arrangement rather than something sitting above it. Behind him, the piano glistens softly, adding little flashes of warmth to an otherwise contemplative soundscape.
The song becomes especially poignant when Ulaganathan begins singing in his native tongue. That shift gives the track an added sense of intimacy, as though the music is moving closer to the language of memory itself. Grief, gratitude and love coexist here, turning a devastating day into a quiet tribute to the people whose presence gives life its deepest meaning.
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Review by: Naomi Joan