Introducing Interview: Cristina Hart

Swiss-born London based artist Cristina Hart has previously charmed audiences playing for the likes of Sofar Sounds, as well as receiving acclaim from Amazing Radio’s Shell Zenner and Charlie Ashcroft, and has now shared an uplifting new single.

Taken from her new EP, ‘Will You’ flows with twinkling keys alongside Hart’s soaring, impassioned vocals, creating a heartfelt slice of alt-pop.

We caught up with Cristina to find out more!

Hi Cristina, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Of course! I’ve been writing and gigging my own songs for the past four years now and this year I finally released original music – it feels so good to finally share these songs! I released three singles and the fourth track ‘Will You’ from my debut EP Sell a Dream finally came out today. My music is indie-pop with quirky, relatable lyrics and upbeat productions, except for the fourth track of the EP which strips away the veneer and lets the emotional lyrics and vocals take centre stage.

How did you start creating music?
About four years ago I moved to London because I wanted to pursue a career in music and since then I’ve got to meet so many creative, talented people. I absolutely love the community here and really enjoy co-writing my songs and working with different writers and producers I click with!

Your new EP Sell a Dream is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the EP?
Yes, there are actually! I wanted to explore the labels that attempt to define us and the importance we attach to them. It’s so easy for people – or even ourselves – to think we’re “too this or that” and this way of thinking is really restrictive when you think about it. Attempting to define ourselves is by definition limiting, which is why I wanted to take some labels that had been thrown at me and play around with them to show that we can not let them mean too much and redefine ourselves every single day.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Demi Lovato and Emily Burns, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
Thanks so much! This constantly changes to be honest as I love discovering new music all the time. For this EP, I would say that my biggest influences are Lauv, Zara Larsson and Alessia Cara. At the moment, I’m really loving more indie-alt pop songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers, Holly Humberstone, Lauren Aquilina and, of course, the Folklore album by Taylor Swift!

In ‘normal’ times, how is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
With COVID, things have obviously been so shaken up that it’s quite hard imagining them starting again soon – I still have my fingers crossed though! I’m local between London and Essex and pre-COVID days I would go to or perform at gigs about three times a week. Watching live music is so inspiring and it always motivates me to keep working on my craft.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
I would say expect some amazing energy and music from my all-female band – they are all badass musicians! We’ve worked on some really cool arrangements and there’s some sing-alongs too, which is always fun! I’m so lucky and grateful to get to gig with them and can’t wait til we get started again!

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
Oh my, where to start, there are so many!! But a few of my suggestions would be Maisie Peters, Griff, Emily Burns, GRACEY, The Valla and UPSAHL.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Now that we can’t gig and every artist has turned to social media, it feels even harder to rise above the noise and it’s more difficult to meet new people / network than it usually is. But there are definitely new ways of getting noticed that artists like myself need to explore and experiment with! I feel that the best way to use social media is to literally be social, meet people and have real conversations with them instead of simply using it as a self-promotion tool.

Finally, what does the rest of 2020 have in store for Cristina Hart?
Now that it’s coming close to an end I would say the EP release is the main thing! I’ll be posting in the coming weeks some snippets from the creative process of recording this EP – I can’t wait! 

Big thanks to Cristina for answering our questions!

 

Cristina Hart’s new EP, Sell A Dream, is out now.

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: Nuha Ruby Ra – ‘Sparky’

Perhaps it’s the nature of the year that we’ll soon be bidding goodbye to, but it’s seen Nuha Ruby Ra go from a one-time member of an art collective in a warehouse in East London, making confessional songs backed by DIY videos, to being played on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6Music breakfast show, and announcing the cover art of her new EP.  

All of Ra’s singles to date have been confessional, with ‘Cruel‘ also speaking to sexual experience – but ‘Sparky’ takes things up a notch. For starters, there’s that ‘Warm Leatherette’ bass-line, and a sax hook that lingers, off-kilter, but insistent. And then there’s the lyrical content: the chorus of “… run your fingers through my hair / Get your words out my head” – a contradictory summation of the power exchange found in the verses, which see Ra both chiding and encouraging the intended listener. 

“I’m Sparky”, Ra has said in the press for the single, “It’s a name I was given by an old flame”, and that the nickname harks back to a period of “sex and dominance… Restless, irritated and reflective, even while having great sex”.  The song’s lyrics are mostly spoken, giving them an extra sense of honesty and directness, with the dualities of lust and rejection, control and resistance typified by images of spilt, sticky prosecco and long journeys taken for dirty weekends.

Sonically, the song sits somewhere between the post-punk of Ra’s sometime collaborators Warmduscher and the darker side of ’80s synthpop: it’s particularly hard not to make comparisons to Soft Cell’s ‘Sex Dwarf’ and Depeche Mode’s ‘Master and Servant’. With Ra’s accent, stance, originality of style and frank talk, there’s a little something of Neneh Cherry, on top there too.  

That combination is one of the key elements to Nuha Ruby Ra’s apparent emergence out of nowhere: her diversity of taste and willingness to take influence from seemingly disparate places at once. On a more practical level, but no less important, is her already well-established connections to alternative music’s best musicians and producers – ‘Sparky’, for example, was developed in a ‘synth cave’ owned by Psychedelic Furs, featuring members of Liars and Insecure Men, whilst its producer and mixer have both worked with such luminaries as Lana Del Rey, Patti Smith and David Bowie. If that’s not enough to tell you that Nuha Ruby Ra’s career is ready to ignite, then  a listen to ‘Sparky’ certainly will.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: Girls Rock School NI – ‘Wild & Free (Play It Loud)’

‘Wild & Free (Play It Loud!)’ makes me want to squeal with pure joy. A collaborative effort, written and recorded by campers and the team of the Girls Rock School Northern Ireland Online Rock Camp, the song is a raucous, rocking slice of riot grrrl that shares the frustrations of life in lockdown.

True to the spirit of Girls Rock School, which aims to empower female-identifying and non-binary youth, ‘Wild & Free’ is a proper stormer. You can’t help but feel uplifted by the big, bouncy guitars and toe-tapping melody, but it’s the lyrics that are most irresistible: “We come together on Zoom,” they sing, “It turns into one big music room!”

Recorded on mobile phones without any fancy equipment, this song is a true labour of love. And, as well as inspiring others through the music, Girls Rock School NI are putting all proceeds from ‘Wild & Free’ towards future GRSNI camps, workshops and classes so they can inspire even more young people. Amazing!

 

Listen to and download ‘Wild & Free (Play It Loud!)’ via Bandcamp now. 

Vic Conway
@thepicsofvic

Artwork by: Shimous

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

Track Of The Day: KIN – ‘Wander & Lost’

In a luscious and ethereal soundscape that creates an entire universe of its own, ambient indie-poppers KIN bring us their third single of 2020, ‘Wander & Lost’. 

Consisting of Grace, Ritu and Adam, London’s KIN share a sound that stretches so far with only three players. Soaring, celestial tones span across acres of space while haunting vocals follow the song’s melancholic instrumental path. Heavy bass explores the depths of ‘Wander & Lost’ and takes listeners deep into its waters, pleasantly complementing the guitar parts that modulate above. 

With dainty riffs that scurry between lyrical phrases rather than through them, KIN still allow themselves the room for lyrics to remain an artistic focus. The emotion brought forth in ‘Wander & Lost’ bridges the gap between dream pop and indie-emo, as KIN draw yearning inspiration from Andre Aciman’s moving novel Call Me By Your Name.

There is an unquestionable desperation within the story of ‘Wander & Lost’, and yet nothing but honour is held for the subject discussed. Maturity is evident in both KIN’s storytelling and songwriting, and it is obvious that this is a creation of meticulous artistic choice. 

‘Wander & Lost’ is a step into familiar shoes, a destination to ache for what we miss and a place to deeply love what must be to come.

Watch the beautifully shot new video for ‘Wander & Lost’ now:

‘Wander & Lost’ is out now. Listen on Spotify.

Jill Goyeau
@jillybxxn 

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment