Singer and actress Saleka Shyamalan, daughter of top director M. Night, has released the single “Save Me.”
The song is taken from M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming thriller “Trap,” which is due Aug. 2 and stars Saleka as well as Josh Hartnett, Hayley Mills and Marnie McPhail. In the film, Saleka plays the fictional pop icon Lady Raven, with Hartnett as a doting father who takes his teenage daughter to see the singer in concert. However, things take a sinister turn when it becomes clear that a large number of police are at the concert looking for a serial killer.
“Save Me” is among the 14 songs she composed, performed and produced for the film’s soundtrack album, “Lady Raven,” which features special appearances by Kid Cudi, Russ and Amaarae.
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Saleka was actually the inspiration for the film: Speaking with PvNew’s Jenelle Riley, M. Night said he was inspired to write the story after watching his daughter perform and collaborated closely with her, writing the script as she wrote songs for the film.
“I would say to Saleka, ‘This is the outline, and we need this moment here. This is what he’s doing at this moment, and I need a song here,’ and she just went away and wrote, kind of slightly scoring it in the way she was writing the songs,” he said. “I didn’t ask her to do that, she was just feeling it out and commenting on the scenes.”
Speaking about the film’s soundtrack, Saleka said, “There’s a duality. I wanted to make an album that could stand on its own and embody the sounds and genres I love. At the same time, every song was made for a specific scene with clear intention.
“Having the external storyline made the process so inspired,” she continued. “I could write in a way that was incredibly free since I wasn’t thinking about myself. I ended up editing myself less and exploring facets of my own emotions that I would be too scared to dive into without having Lady Raven to speak through.”
The film was also inspired by the Shyamalans’ love for Bollywood and musicals.
“‘Purple Rain’ is one of our favorite movies,” she says. “Film and music often go hand in hand in our culture; they are equally important in Bollywood movies. The concept for ‘Trap’ came from family conversations in the kitchen about wanting to bring these two art forms together in our own way. I wrote a lot of the songs at my parents’ house in the living room. This project felt like home, but allowed me to try musical ideas I never had before. It’s so pure and special to me.”
Listen to “Save Me” below.
