Emblematic American chamber-folk singer-songwriter NINA NASTASIA came to prominence in New York City in 2000 after Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel began giving her debut album, Dogs, airplay. The album earned Nastasia a cult following around the globe.
This week the Californianborn singer (of Calabrian-Italian and Irish descent) announced the end of a twelve-year hiatus with news of a new album, titled ‘Riderless Horse‘. This news follows an earlier disclosure in February 2022 that she had signed a deal with the Brooklyn based indie label, Temporary Residence Limited, who digitally reissued On Leaving, You Follow Me and Outlaster.
Creating music had always been a positive outlet during difficult times…
NINA NASTASIA
Riderless Horse is to be her first solo record not to be produced by her former partner, the musical director, Kennan Gudjonsson. The story of the making is tragic. These are her own words:
“I haven’t made an album since 2010. I decided to stop pursuing music several years after my sixth record, Outlaster, because of unhappiness, overwhelming chaos, mental illness, and my tragically dysfunctional relationship with Kennan. Creating music had always been a positive outlet during difficult times, but eventually it became a source of absolute misery.”
“I [had] lived in a studio apartment in NYC for 25 years, finding ways to survive while making records and going on tours…”
“It was quite a home we had created, but it was decaying steadily from the moment we moved in, and in the end, it was as if black mold was growing beneath the surface, undetected, and the two of us were dying and getting too weak to ever leave. We loved each other. We were each other’s family, but there was ongoing abuse, control and manipulation. We hid. We didn’t want anyone to see how ugly things could get, so we increasingly isolated from our friends and family. We were lost.”
“On January 26, 2020, I made the decision to separate and live apart, and on January 27, Kennan died by suicide. What a thing, suicide. I can only feel sadness and guilt about it. Maybe I’ll have other reactions to it later on.”
Terrible things happen. These were some terrible things…
NINA NASTASIA
“Riderless Horse documents the grief, but it also marks moments of empowerment and a real happiness in discovering my own capability. Steve Albini produced this record with me, and Greg Norman assisted. The three of us are old friends, and we did a field recording in a guesthouse built like a lighthouse that two very dear friends of mine have in Esopus, NY. It was exactly the right environment to work on this record. We all had meals together, cried, laughed, and told stories. It was perfect. It made me realize how much I love writing, playing and recording music.”
“Terrible things happen. These were some terrible things. So, what to do – learn something valuable, connect with people, move the f*ck out of that apartment, remember the humor, find the humor, tell the truth, and make a record.”
The lead single from the album, “Just Stay in Bed” (shared below) is more carbonated than you might expect, given the painful circumstances of its emergence, and is offered with clearheaded & luculent perception. Unsensationally accompanied by bladelike picks of guitar, the frostbitten voice is articulate enough to be declared revelatory.
This is shivery, appreciative, and jittery (yes) but also undeterred.
Nina Nastasia’s Riderless Horse is due out on CD/Digital on July 22, 2022 and vinyl LP on November 4, 2022
Link: https://ninanastasia.bandcamp.com/album/riderless-horse
April 2022 live tour dates below video
The artist is supporting supporting Mogwai during April 2022
5 Apr – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
6 Apr – Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
8 Apr – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
9 Apr – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
11 Apr – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
12 Apr – Chicago, IL @ Metro
13 Apr – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
14 Apr – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
15 Apr – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theater
18 Apr – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
19 Apr – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
20 Apr – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
22 Apr – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
23 Apr – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
24 Apr – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park