Written by Shea Roney

“You’re an expectation, I’m another night wasted on the outline,” a phrase lured in by a steady electric guitar and opening “Smokescreen” with no objection. As a whole, Nisa’s latest single is relentless; blending lush tenacity and the epitome of a catchy pop hook – making for a playful song of hesitation and emotional contusions. “I was stuck in a loop of repetitive behavior and somehow also expecting to feel different,” Nisa says about the song. “After a while, it started to weigh on me. In order to get out of one, I had to admit that I was prone to harmful patterns.” Along with the previously released pair of singles, “Vertigo” and “Currents”, Nisa says, “a lot of what these songs are about is a struggle to form a coherent sense of identity with all of the intersecting pieces of me.” These songs are abrasive and at times overwhelming, but from the heart, it comes together as Nisa’s melody matures into something to long for; an anticipation to break all expectations. 

Nisa is the budding solo project of Nisa Lumaj, who, as of today, has just shared her new single, “Smokescreen”. With three singles released in this cycle, Nisa has also just announced her first full length album, Shapeshifting, due April 26 via Portland’s Tender Loving Empire Records. Nisa has crafted a career out of skies-the-limit songs, such as the cold-blooded rocker “Cold” (2021) and the glittery gaze of “Exaggerate” (2022), performing with such contagious angst that is leveled out by self reflection. Now coming up to her most cohesive project to date, Shapeshifting carries its name sake in both sonic explorations and narrative feats, as Nisa writes from the freights of a moving identity; one that is no longer fitting – while in line – the next is not yet attainable. 

Born to Albanian immigrants, Nisa is a native New Yorker, preoccupying the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and currently residing in Brooklyn. Growing up and blending a bilingual household with the love of culture, both inherited and found, “I really felt like I had a foot in each continent,” Nisa conveys with recognition. With traditional folk music as the backdrop of her childhood, there was a drawn-out introduction to English-speaking pop music as she began to explore New York and the many artistic facets that hide in every corner. “When I started to play guitar I decided I was not going to focus on this [cultural] part of my musical identity,” admitting, “I hadn’t heard pop music yet, or anything of that beyond the radio.” Stimulated by this new music, and the wide definition thereof, “I was gonna explore what’s new,” Nisa recalls with excitement.

But with everything she has experienced, Nisa mentions, “the older I get, the more I appreciate my parent’s background.” Even in times spent dancing around despondency, there is an acknowledgement that her familial roots will always be a part of her; inevitably offering an angle when piecing herself together. “I do feel really attached to that part of my identity,” she reassures. Even in her musical world, Nisa admits, “the woes of being an indie musician, like the stress of financial security, doesn’t even begin to cover their hardships and experiences. I am very grateful to have that perspective.”

Nisa is still a fairly new player to the Brooklyn scene, having released her first EP, Guilt Trip, in 2021. But in that short amount of time, with memorable live shows and a few more releases in the mix, Nisa has found a comfortable environment to cultivate her own. With each EP falling in love with a fresh sonic build up, discovering and defining new styles has become an exciting challenge for Nisa to venture into her songwriting. “I think working on a project-to-project basis has helped me keep a through line – that is, sounding like me without labeling me garage pop or something like that.” With much delight, embracing fuzzed out power chords, glittery sedation, theatrical art leaps, glitchy electronica – all with the subtlety of folk construction underneath, there ought to be celebration for remaining consistent in ever shifting environments. 

The paired singles, “Vertigo” and “Currents”, released at the end of 2023, take a leap of faith together, not only into a tender subject, but into structural truancy as well. “The songs don’t really sound like something specific that I wanted to reference,” Nisa admits. “It’s just kind of what happened that day we were recording.” With production help from Ronnie DiSimone (Ritual Talk, Annika Bennett), Nisa shares, “we were kind of trying to convince ourselves that once we made it and it was out, we no longer had control over it.” As an incentive, control (or the contrary) can be a life support for a songwriter; especially one who so trustingly wears their heart on their sleeve. “I think understanding that you relinquish control in making something,” Nisa ponders, when a song is out, “there’s nothing you can do to change it. You’ve already said what you have to say and that can be really empowering.” As brutal as releasing a piece of yourself can be, acknowledging that there will always be anxieties; a standard rotation of expectations and critiques – “I think just reframing it for yourself has been the best way for me,” Nisa expresses with appreciable confidence. 

In all, the amount of stylings Nisa embodies in no way feels like a chore – more rejuvenated by the movement – flowing naturally with the through line of her interior sentiments and emotional reverence. The new group of singles are sonically contrasting, thorough in their own ways, but aren’t necessarily that different as accomplices in Nisa’s overall narrative. “They were definitely written during a period of transition,” she shares, continuing, “the intersecting pieces of me didn’t feel composite.” Fractured in time with the basic experience of getting older, there is no clear answer to Nisa’s turmoil, but there is a blunt and habitual flow to these songs that rely on their combative differences and sincere nature to define an honest spectrum of mending; a balance that is always worth the wait. 

With “Smokescreen” now out and Shapeshifting announced to a growing crowd, Nisa’s natural movements continue to push past expectations, both of the audience and of her own. For a project brought to life through hesitations and tender impressions, Nisa’s music grows out of this natural hunch and appealing confidence that she has spent years forming for herself. As identity goes, there is no saying when you have accomplished such an accountable idea of self, but with all the facets that Nisa has emboldened in her world, it is undeniable who she is as an artist. “I have always made what I want to make,” she says, clearly in direction towards our conversation, but the reflection in her voice lets it hang out in the open – to stay there. “I think if you keep doing that full steam ahead, you’re never gonna question yourself.”

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