anaïs Releases Inspired Debut ‘Nina’
Right now it may feel like we’ve reached a stalemate in this music industry of ours when it comes to gender parity. It’s a sobering thought that with all the talk of equality, there is still so much work to be done to level out the playing field. The latest Billboard Power 100 list has illustrated that disparity all too clearly, yet again. But fear not when it comes to women in music, there’s no shortage of talent.
“I’ll tell you what freedom is to me, no fear”
Inspired by the words of Nina Simone, the exquisite anaïs debuts an ode to the legendary woman herself, with her first single ‘Nina’ from the forthcoming EP ‘Before Zero’.
A nomad of sorts, who spent much of her youth moving around, from Toulouse to Dublin to Dhaka to Oakland, anaïs of Senegalese, French and Italian origin, has had to master a number of languages before finding her own voice. After studying at the Clive Davies Institute of Recorded Music in NYC, alongside friends Arca and Gallant, anaïs made her next move to London in 2015 to begin work on her first project.
Written, produced and performed by anaïs, the debut EP introduces a personal perspective of the world as seen by a young black woman who’s traveled extensively but has had no real place to call home.
On the treatment for her video ‘Nina’ directed by Campbell Addy, anaïs says – “I wrote Nina at a time when I felt that a lot of the music I was hearing wasn’t reflecting what was happening in the world around me, I felt that fear had become a silencing agent and that something needed to be said. Nina Simone, who to me represents true freedom and fearlessness in art, inspired me to “say what you won’t” and to overcome the fears that inhibit me so that I can be a voice for freedom through my music. We shot the film in Senegal, which is where part of my heritage is from and we wanted to highlight real life characters who reflect in their own way what freedom means to me.”
