"I'm a singer, I'm a creator, I'm an optimist, I'm highly sensitive, I'm super emotional, and I'm a person who thinks about life, love, and human relationships a lot," she exclaims. Last year, Nina headed to London to work with producer Duncan Mills (Florence + The Machine, The Vaccines, Jake Bugg, James Murphy). Together, they struck what she describes as "an immediate chemistry." After a handful of productive sessions, the global lockdowns commenced. With tour dates canceled, she faced a harsh reality, "I had to go home immediately, or I wouldn't be able to get back to Amsterdam anymore."
In the middle of quarantine, Nina often ventured outside for walks with dramatic Dutch podcasts piping through her headphones. "I noticed these little sounds illustrate the narrative," she observes. "The sound design pulls you into the story. So, we implemented this technique in production to pull everyone into my world." To bring this concept to life, Nina discovered an old 17th-century landhouse "which looks amazing from the outside but is worn out on the inside." This place served as a personification of the music's themes and a source of constant inspiration as the site for both the project's photoshoot and the music video for first single 'Rainbow Ashes'.
On March 27, Nina recorded a livestream concert with a string quartet, performing the EP, including latest single 'World on Fire'. Discussing the song, Nina explains, "it’s about my astonishment at how we humans treat our planet. And how everybody acts so surprised when a crisis like the current one happens, while it, of course, is a logical result of our behavior."
On the original recording, Nina employed the sound of people talking softly to "create an immediate mood of people being very busy with only themselves."
Heightened senses strengthen communication. On the forthcoming 'Side A – Our Garden' EP (out June 25 via Nettwerk Records), the Amsterdam-based singer and songwriter layers plainspoken emotion over multi-dimensional soundscapes steeped in strings, keys, guitar, and natural sound effects. After amassing more than 20 million streams worldwide, Nina June has been quietly making waves with her 2018 independent debut 'Bon Voyage' and her 2019 Nettwerk Records debut EP 'Shadows & Riddles'. Filtering restless wanderlust into lithe anthems of awakening, she captivated listeners with a string of successful singles, sold-out shows, and Amsterdam's prestigious Zilveren Notekraker - an honor in celebration of "Promising New Talent." In March 2020, she traveled to London to work with producer Duncan Mills (Florence + The Machine, The Vaccines, Jake Bugg, James Murphy) to record the new music.
'Side A – Our Garden' is out June 25th via Nettwerk Records
