Nedelle Torrisi is the daughter of a priest-turned-jazz-drummer and an ex-nun turned pianist. Unusual career switches we know, but the importance of music in her house growing up was of paramount importance to Torrisi’s quirky and distinctive sound. She took up the violin and sang in musicals at the age of 7 (!!), and studied instruments well into her twenties. No wonder she has such an impressive multitude of skills. She has spent a decade making music, working both as a long-time Sufjan Stevens and Ariel Pink collaborator, as well as under a myriad of monikers, including Nedelle, Nedelle and Thom and Cryptacize. Now using her full name, she follows intertwining musical influences (in particular jazz and light indie pop influences are evident in her work) and mix them to converge in an unusual but blissful sound for her album Advice From Paradise. Her phenomenal musicianship skills makes her an enchanting act to lose yourself to. There’s something about her that you just can’t quite put your finger on.

“In ‘Cathartica’, I’m addressing insomnia – something I’ve dealt with for a while, though not to the degree that some people do.” Talking to sleep itself in her track, Torrisi wrote the hazy, abstract lyrics whilst trying to fall asleep one night. She says, “so sleep is unafraid of me, what does it matter? I just get lost within the walls.” This abstract approach to something so integral to everyday life is what makes Torrisi’s blissful RnB-tinged jams so special. In “Cathartica”, she adopts the breezy elements of indie pop layered on top of the slinky synth-y sounds. The video follows Torrisi as she sings her evocative lyrics while in the background we see a view of sprawling suburbia, a Christmas market and leaping deer. The lyrics in “Cathartica” are topics that we can all connect to: “I’ve made so many changes/to get closer to you” and “in pain the body rearranges”, and through her graceful, soothing and calm vocals, she shows how she can tap into issues experienced by everyone.