Rising Star Profile: Gianna

Layering tropes from genres such as jungle, downtempo, and trip-hop, newcomer Gianna shines amongst a congested London scene. You cannot help but be instantly struck by her nuanced lyrics and pretty production. Having a smattering of high-quality singles already on streaming services, she released ‘Hei Lover’ towards the end of last year; the first single from her upcoming debut EP Behind the Wings. The second single ‘Shadow of a Bird’, features more of her quiet intensity. 

When I sat down to speak with her, she described how ‘Shadow of a Bird’, was inspired by an experience she had when sunbathing: “I kept seeing a shadow drift over me whilst my eyes were closed, and it felt like something was about to fall on me. I couldn’t tell if it was someone standing over me or a stone falling, but every time I opened my eyes, it was just a bird. It showed me how scary things can seem when you avoid what is in front of you”. Her ability to draw such profundity and wisdom from a seemingly trivial experience, is mirrored through the deft maturity with which Gianna explores thematic material. 

Accompanying the first single, ‘Hei Lover’, is a refined music video, filmed at the beach and filtered through the blue lucidity of night vision. Moth imagery pops up a few times, hinting at the binary ‘before and after’ of metamorphosis. Dichotomy certainly runs thematically throughout the EP, but at the time of writing the tunes, this thread wasn’t consciously weaved. She says “sometimes I have an erratic creative mind, and I had a lot to say, so I needed to let it all out first before I could step back, see the perspective, and figure out how things would fit together.” 

In ‘Hei Lover’ the duality she explores is through “a lyrical push and pull”. Gianna unpacks the lyric “I’ll leave you at the door, just breathe when you want more” within the context of learning to present a version of yourself to manoeuvre through differing situations. She furthers “I’m 23 and I have had to learn what part of me needs to activate in each setting”. Giving the example of being shy on a first date as a defence mechanism, opposed with being authoritative in label meetings, she displays how “two opposing qualities coexist” – her lyrical impetus here. 

There is a distinctive 1990s & 2000s influence on all the instrumentals of Behind the Wings. She refers to this era of music as “what I grew up in”.  She thinks “the deepest, youngest part of me is activated by it. There’s something special about when that part of you is reignited”. She specifies Madonna’s Ray of Light, Imogen Heap, and Everything But The Girl as having the most intense bearings on her musical identity. One may note a parallel between the dualism expressed in the lyrics with the binary behind the musical choices here; using what was absorbed in childhood as a vehicle to express our emotional learnings as adults. 

Her multi-layered exploration of duality does not stop there. Not only is past and present, and the refraction of personality considered, but also her dual nationality. She explains “my parents are ethnically Albanian from Kosovo. I was born in England, but my first language was Albanian. I’m very in touch with my roots and go back every year.” The title of the EP refers to the dual-headed Eagle on the Albanian flag, which “adds to the themes of severed identities, past and present, softness and authoritativeness” via the symbolism of her roots.

The freshness of Gianna’s sound is underpinned by this binary of referencing the past whilst remaining definitively forward looking. Her introspection is handled with care and balance, becoming real and ethereal simultaneously, when projected through the beauty of her vocals and melodies. She is a new talent to keep your eye on for sure. 

Words by Charlie Edmondson