By day, you’ll find Reeya Banerjee crunching numbers as an accountant, but in her spare time, she’s either hitting the trails for long runs or crafting deeply personal songs. Her background spans theatre, film, and creative writing, with work appearing everywhere from Story Screen Presents to various literary magazines. She even has a film degree from Vassar College that she jokes she doesn’t use, but honestly, her cinematic approach to songwriting suggests otherwise.
“The distance between who she was and who she’s becoming, measured in miles and memories.”
“This Place” is Banerjee’s follow-up to 2022’s album, “The Way Up”, and it’s a significant step forward. Where her debut focused on mental health recovery, this new album takes a broader view, using the actual cities and places she’s lived as the backdrop for a decade’s worth of growth, heartbreak, and hard-won wisdom. The album’s four singles have already shown Banerjee’s range. Her inspirations are evident because you can hear traces of Springsteen’s storytelling, U2’s ambition, and Fiona Apple’s emotional honesty, all filtered through her own experiences and perspective.
“This Place” is a concept that could easily feel pretentious, but Banerjee’s storytelling is too connected to real life for that. The songwriting here is notably stronger than on her debut. Banerjee’s background in theatre and creative writing shows up in the way she pieces together these narratives. The album flows well from start to finish. These songs were clearly designed to work together, building momentum and creating an emotional arc that rewards listening to the whole thing.
Production-wise, Folger and Rubino have put together something clean and well-crafted. The arrangements draw from 90s alternative rock, power pop, and indie rock without sounding like a throwback or recycled. “This Place” positions Banerjee as an artist worth watching. She’s got the writing chops to craft stories that stick with you, the vocal ability to sell them, and the creative vision to tie everything together neatly.
Don’t sleep on this one. Give it the full listen it deserves; you won’t regret the journey.
Muse Chronicle 
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