Avant-pop songstress NAVA released her fourth EP, NAFAS (translating into Breath) on the 13th of May via Oyez! This is the first of her anticipated three EP collections, each one dedicated to a specific theme that create her artistic identity. NAFAS goes beyond the music and digs deep in NAVA’s roots, language being its main focus. Through carefully picked and coherent collaborations with 555n (an AI art, sound art and music production project created by Sirian/Italian artist and composer Gadi Sassoon), Italian born Madrid based Bawrut and young experimental Milan based Giumo, she explores where she has come from and how her life is evolving. The EP was mastered by Alex Trecarichi at Monodynamic Studio and by Matteo Lombardi at Fingerprint Sound Studio, both in Milan. NAFAS features the fierce track ‘Respiro’ as well as the previously released singles ‘Senti’ and ‘GAZ’ where an assortment of languages meet unusual beats, with a dark, underground tone that evades the mind and finds a place deep within the chest cavity.
NAVA has earned support from around the world with publications such as i-D Italy, Wonderland Magazine, FLAUNT Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, CLASH Magazine, Kaltblut, Rolling Stone Italy, Metal Magazine, EARMILK, Il Fatto Quotidiano, and RockIt amongst others, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 6 Recommends and Tom Ravenscroft, BBC Lancashire’s On The Wire Show, BBC Merseyside, Worldwide FM, The Wire’s Rewired Show on NTS Radio and KEXP to name but a few.
Tehran-born and Milan-based, this year marks a new era for Nava Golchini as she approaches her creativity with a different perspective – learning to balance her Persian and Italian sides. As she embarks on this adventure, NAVA finds inspiration in the works of Sevdaliza, Sega Bodega, Arca and Rosalìa while her own sound can draw parallels to the stylish works of Arca, Grimes and MØ.
Distorted basslines and ethereal floating voices create an international cultural kaleidoscope of sound as NAVA sharply twists and turns through preconceived expectations. Speaking of the EP, NAVA tells us: “NAFAS has been a journey. It took me back to my roots, it allowed me to experiment as freely as I wanted, going back to basics and yet finding a whole new world through the different languages I explored. Language is a huge influence on me and I’m so excited to have placed a spotlight on it in this EP.“
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