The Captivating Darkness and Theatricality of Nostalghia
Ciscandra Nostalghia
Once again, Flashwounds is lucky enough to be able to introduce you to music that might not yet be on your radar, but should be. Meet the up-and-coming alt/indie/electronic act called Nostalghia, named after focal point and driving force vocalist/songwriter Ciscandra Nostalghia. Her songwriting is cinematic and enigmatic, provocative and vulnerable…and she is a fascinating, magnetic product of the collision of two entirely different worlds ~ Los Angeles, CA, and Tehran, Iran. She’s a complete artist through and through ~ vocalist, musician, poet, painter/illustrator, photographer/film maker, and eccentric fashionista. She bears another mark of a great artist ~ she is unwaveringly brave, possessing the courage and uncompromising spirit that is on par with that of visionaries like Perry Farrell.
Chrysalis, due out April 8, is the band’s second release; it is a conceptual piece based around the concept of being trapped ~ by your own emotions, in an unhealthy love or unbreakable habit of shutting other people out, deciding to remain secluded, isolated. According to Ciscandra, the chrysalis, as the hardened shell of a moth, is symbolic for putting up walls, shutting yourself off, and “…watching your inner child die before you.“
Nostalghia’s music is compelling, provocative and cinematic, pouring directly from Ciscandra’s heart and soul with dark and dramatic passion. Vancouver’s Georgia Straight put it this way: “[Nostalghia’s music is] loaded with fried-circuit synths, metal-clatter percussion, and funereal cellos…new tracks such as “Homeostasis” and “Stockholm Syndrome” draw heavily from nightmarish-side-of-the-’80s new wave and ’90s-issue industrial, with Nostalghia’s theatrical vocals never less than captivating.”
And the band as a whole ~ Ciscandra, her partner Roy Gnan, who is a multi-instrumentalist and programming wizard (and of all things, the two met on Craigslist!), and cellist Adele Stein ~ is nothing less than captivating, too. They have already attracted fans who run the gamut from Skrillex, Marilyn Manson, the Orb and Gorgol Bordello to Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo of Evanescence, producer/film composer Tyler Bates, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and Slayer’s Dave Lombardo. If you appreciate the work of artists like Kate Bush, the Knife, or Mirah, there is no doubt that you will be drawn to Nostalghia after hearing merely seconds of their music.
Experience a taste of Nostalghia in the official videos for “Sunshiny Milk” and “Chrysalis.”