“The Surge feat. Ramya Pothuri” is the first single from Sandunes on her new label Tru Thoughts. On the track, Sandunes and Ramya Pothuri channel the bittersweet unease of migration, with a balance of turbulent synths and syncopated tranquillity. The release, taken from her upcoming, transcendental album, 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' (out Friday 17th November), aligns with her relocation to LA in pursuit of a new chapter in life and music.

The enchanting displaced vocal arrangement of “The Surge” expresses the flurry of emotions surrounding a big change, like leaving the comfort of Goa’s beautiful, familiar red soil. Breaking the conformities of traditional arrangement, the track gambols with a life of its own. Lyrically, the track describes the sensation of vines sprawling and knotting in someone’s mind, “like a bad dream”, causing the colour to drain from someone’s skin. The intensity of the instrumentation is a testament of trying times, produced in a one-week window of isolation together after being exposed to Covid during the spread of Covid’s second wave through India, “I remember it being a scary time” Sandunes adds. Ramya and Sandunes recount making “The Surge” as “a little slice of paradise” while they stayed at a homestay that also functioned as a make-shift animal shelter. A blue-eyed cat that they crossed paths with during their layover inspired some of the enigmatic lyrics that float between the playful woodwind notes, strings and fluttering synthesiser tones.

Ramya Pothuri adds: “Recording the surge was one of the most comfortable and nurturing experiences I’ve had as an artist. Taking in the sights and sounds of Goa and the incredible company of Sandunes and Krishna I felt like we were able to create something truly genuine and beautiful.”