Los Angeles-based artist Nailah Hunter will release her full-length debut album Lovegaze early next year, sharing its spellbinding and melodically crystalline lead single “Finding Mirrors.” Its mystical ebb and flow reflect the circumstances of its conception: recording the demos on a borrowed Celtic harp while living in a small city nestled along the English Channel. You won’t want to miss her when she performs at Bar Moxy in Los Angeles for Sounds of South Park on November 29th.
A talented multi-instrumentalist whose harp-led ambient creations radiate with empyrean beauty, Hunter’s musical interest was spurred early on. The daughter of a Belizean pastor, she started playing drums and guitar and singing in the choir of her father’s church. At CalArts, she received her first fateful harp lesson — immediately finding herself enamored with the instrument’s ability to transcend and evoke the phantasmagoria of myths and dreams.
In 2020, she released her first EP Spells, a six-track collection introducing her alluring fascination with environmentally-minded folk ornamented by Arthurian legend. Songs like the ethereally glowing “Soil: Song From Silence” and “White Flower, Dark Hill” weave an incandescent backdrop of strings upon which Hunter melds fantasy and ecology. Later singles like “Black Valhalla” only expanded her penchant for kindling the smoldering embers of legend into transcendent compositions.
Those same themes reemerge on Lovegaze and its first single, “Finding Mirrors.” The song embodies a stunning divergence from the enshrouding ambiance of previous releases. Here, Hunter’s enchantingly luminous vocals rise to the fore of its glassy soundscape. Yet it also illuminates her continued evolution as an arranger of ravishing instrumentation, incorporating synthetic textures and tones into her otherworldly palette.
“Finding Mirrors” is joined by a music video directed by Dillon Howl that illustrates an exploration of one’s multiple selves. That internal transmutation unfolds like one of the mythical fantasies that Hunter is continuously inspired by. One that envisions her wandering a forest as she peers into a small dragon-shaped mirror, bathed in incandescent sunlight and daunting darkness. Bringing to life the wondrous magic innate to her music with its incredible visuals.
Words: Steven Ward
Lovegaze, the new album from Nailah Hunter is out on January 12th via Fat Possum Records, pre-order it here. See Nailah Hunter at Bar Moxy in Los Angeles for Sounds of South Park on November 29th.
Visit Nailah Hunter on her Bandcamp and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Watch the music video for “Finding Mirrors” the new single from Nailah Hunter.
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