International breakout star Dhruv releases debut album, Private Blizzard

Press photo, credit: Stefan Kohli

Private Blizzard, the debut album from breakout vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dhruv, is out today via Little Worry/RCA Records—get it HERE.

“When I was in high school and felt completely alone in my queerness, music held my hand and saw me through my private blizzard,” Dhruv says. “In this latest period of life, which has been turbulent in different ways, I have again found a sense of rootedness in making songs. No matter how far I stray, it’s what it has always come back to. I'm so grateful for what this album has done for me and so happy for it to be out in the world.”

Private Blizzard features Dhruv’s new single “One and Only” alongside previously released tracks “Grieving,” “Speed of Light,” “How?,” which Ones to Watch praised as “spellbinding,” and “Tragedy,” Dhruv’s first new music of 2024 which he performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for his late night T.V. debut in February.

Recorded in Nashville with Grammy-nominated producer JT Daly (Noah Kahan, Bully, Benson Boone), Private Blizzard reflects the full range of emotions Dhruv felt as he set out to make his debut album from a place of creative honesty. “I started in a place of numbness, and I didn’t really understand why I felt that way,” Dhruv shares. “The songs that I started out with were trying to help me unpack that feeling. The further along I got, I started feeling better—I just felt lighter.”

Allowing intuition to guide him more than in the past, Dhruv focused on developing his vocal range to give himself a larger canvas to express his changing emotions. From a sonic perspective, he and Daly worked together to arrive at a sound that incorporates classic live elements while retaining a modern feel. The result is an album that, above all else, feels true to Dhruv.

Born and raised in Singapore and of Indian descent, Dhruv’s fascination with music dates back to the age of five, hearing Bollywood soundtracks on the T.V. at his grandmother’s house. After years of writing songs privately, he put his studies at Yale on hold to make a go of music in earnest and began producing from his bedroom.

Dhruv burst into the spotlight after his 2019 single “double take” exploded globally, racking up hundreds of millions of streams worldwide. Soon after, he signed with Little Worry and RCA and, in 2022, he released his debut EP Rapunzel. He’s toured with Joji, sold out headline stops across the U.S. and the U.K. and a handful of dates in Asia in 2023, including two rare headline shows in India. NME praised Dhruv for creating “vital, anthemic” pop, while PAPER celebrated the power of his “intimate love songs” and CLASH hailed his “open and completely relatable” songwriting.

DHRUV—PRIVATE BLIZZARD

1. Ode To Boredom

2. California Winter

3. How?

4. Any Day

5. Tragedy

6. Grieving

7. Speed of Light

8. Lonely City Waltz (interlude)

9. Daggers

10. The Morning

11. Illusions

12. One and Only

Breakout artist Dhruv announces release of debut album, Private Blizzard

New song “Speed of Light” out now!

Private Blizzard, the debut album from breakout vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dhruv, is slated for release August 23 via Little Worry/RCA Records. 

Recorded in Nashville with Grammy-nominated producer JT Daly (Noah Kahan, Bully, Benson Boone), Private Blizzard reflects the full range of emotions Dhruv felt as he set out to make his debut album from a place of creative honesty. “I started in a place of numbness, and I didn’t really understand why I felt that way,” Dhruv shares. “The songs that I started out with were trying to help me unpack that feeling. The further along I got, I started feeling better—I just felt lighter.”

Singer-songwriter and producer Dhruv releases new single “Tragedy”

The catchy bop serves as the lead single off his debut album, out next 

Today, singer-songwriter and producer Dhruv releases “Tragedy,” the lead single from his debut album expected later this year. Co-written by Dhruv and produced by JT Daly, the piano-led track chronicles the somber feeling of being on the losing end of a breakup after a failed attempt of reconciling with an ex. Listen to the single here.

“Writing ‘Tragedy’ was the first time I made something that I feel has my stamp on it,” Dhruv says. “It was the first song we finished for my album, and it became a natural entry point into the world of my upcoming record. ‘Tragedy’ feels like it could be a blueprint for things that I'm going to make in the future. If you read the lyrics, it could seem like a drag. But we spent a lot of time trying to make a song that feels more like a wink, more ironic than depressing or sad. I'm really proud of how I was able to turn an experience that was flat-out miserable into something that's kind of funny.”