Anastasia Solay is preparing for the release of her forthcoming album titled Heart of a Star. This eagerly anticipated collection will comprise 10 tracks, including her well-received singles “Heart of a Star” and “Candlelight.” In this interview, she shares insights into her artistic process, revealing how personal experiences and spontaneous moments shape her music.
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She also discusses the conceptualization of her music video “Candlelight,” which symbolizes fleeting memories and self-discovery, and how her diverse influences blend into a unique sound that reflects her multicultural background.
Her upcoming album embodies this fusion, with tracks like “Start a Fire” capturing raw, unfiltered emotions. Anastasia‘s music, deeply influenced by global narratives and her diverse musical influences, aims to take listeners on an emotional journey of strength, love, hope, and beauty, resonating with their personal stories.
“Candlelight” seems to symbolize both the flickering memories of a past relationship and the guiding light towards self-discovery. How did you conceptualize this imagery in the creation of your music video, and were there any specific visual elements or scenes that you felt were crucial in portraying the essence of the song?
I drew a storyboard while I was still writing the song. My imagination brought me to an old kind of cafe with people barely paying attention and a mysterious character that was wandering around who happens to enter while the performance was going on. Capturing characters with individuality was important, as well as an atmosphere of mystery. Finding a place that had its own character played a role as well.
Can you share more about the personal experiences or emotions that inspired the lyrics, “Maybe that’s why I don’t see you no more” and “I’ll be sending my love away, away,” and how you translated these feelings into a compelling composition?
Most of the lyrics came to me naturally, while I was improvising at a live show, I guess I just sang what was on my heart and mind at the time. Then in retrospect I composed a collage of memories and feelings following my melodic instincts around the story.
You’ve mentioned that inspiration can come from a dream or a phrase caught in the wind. Could you share a specific instance from your upcoming record, ‘Heart of a Star‘ where such spontaneous moments played a key role in your creation process?
Spontaneous moments always play a key role, I love to keep raw emotion. The vocals for “Start a Fire” was actually a freestyle recorded in one take. I kept it as I felt it captured a moment that only happened once, just as a photograph.
“Somewhere” reflects your empathetic connection to global events. In ‘Heart of a Star,’ how have today’s narratives influenced your songwriting and the emotional tone of the album?
I believe if one strives to become a better person and heals, this helps universally. By creating this music I was doing the best I could to create what I considered beautiful and add a little bit of light where I could.
From Tchaikovsky to Aretha Franklin, your influences are incredibly diverse. Could you highlight a track from your anticipated album that you feel particularly reflects this interesting blend of inspirations?
“Candlelight” captures some of my diverse inspirations, from the soft vocals, to the more powerful notes, violin arrangements, trumpets, slow spacious guitar and hard hitting drums. This shows my inspirations from classical cinematic film scores, hip-hop, rock, and jazz.
You’ve lived in San Francisco, Geneva, and London, absorbing various musical cultures. How do these experiences shape the sound and thematic content of your releases?
There were so many diverse people wherever I would go. The rhythms, melodies, and stories all add different colors to my sound. The people most of all would show me their love for different music that would open my eyes and ears to new ways of creating. Particularly one wonderful percussionist in London. I have never seen someone bring so many instruments with them and how much one little shaker could have such an impact.
When you share your music with the world, what kind of emotional journey do you envision for your audience? How do you imagine your melodies blending into the narrative of their individual life stories, nurturing moments of connection and reflection?
A journey of strength, love, hope and beauty. I hope it can help someone dream, give someone a bit of strength or for someone to just enjoy a walk with their headphones. Music gave so much to me, I hope I can give back.
Watch the official music videos for “Candlelight” and “Heart of a Star” below: