NISA – GUILT TRIP
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE
New-York based singer-songwriter Nisa was first inspired to begin writing songs after an old guitar teacher encouraged her to draw from the enchanting storytelling of fearless acts like PJ Harvey and the Cure in her own work. Born to Albanian immigrants in the Bronx and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Nisa’s homegrown indie sound is the product of her coming-of-age in a transnational and curious household at the center of a diverse and accepting arts community. She began playing at open mic night at Sidewalk Cafe in high school, eventually joining a rock collective in college that performed regularly around Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Early in 2020, Nisa returned from time spent living in London to launch her solo project in New York. Unable to immediately begin studio work amidst the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, she co-produced and released two singles “Forget Me / Giving” and “Colossus,” receiving recognition from multiple independent blogs and tastemakers.
Her forthcoming debut EP, Guilt Trip, is an eclectic mix of songs rooted in emotional detachment and reticence, especially surrounding dissolved relationships and a failure to communicate. Working with close collaborator/guitarist Fritz Ortman, as well as producer Ronnie Di Simone, Nisa assembled a band from area musicians, including drummer Zac Coe (Del Water Gap) and guitarist Nick Cianci. The songs, written solo, were arranged with the help of Di Simone at his private studio, Brick Box, and recorded at Studio G in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While each song embodies a different stage of the turbulent and ambiguous journey toward self-acceptance, the tracks are united by a sense of anxiety and the desire for change.
Artist Quote
“In all facets of life, change will inevitably occurβfast and slow and often out of our control. With these songs, I was taking stock of the resistanceΒ I felt against some changes that I’d never had to face before all coming to a head. Anxiety in its many manifestations can bring forth this overwhelming sense of obscurity, and that can sometimes materialize as emotional detachment. Ultimately, I found that, in accepting that lack of control, self-acceptance can bloom. And those fears that once felt refractory begin to feel like new and delicate parts of you, growing and changing just like the rest.”Β
Nisa
Guilt Trip
(Independent)
Release Date: March 26, 2021
ArtistΒ Links
Background Photo Credit: Sara Laufer
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SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: JOE GENI – CITIES BUILT UPON CITIES
