Photo by Sebastian Kuhlmann
On stage the singer didn’t loose her charm at all. She even seemed a bit shy when entering it. Without a big introduction, the band started playing and filled the room with the mysterious sound of Angel Heart, the album’s first track.
The ‘Studio 672’ in Cologne, which was located right below a restaurant, had this certain underground vibe. VASTA took the role of the girl next door who just slammed down her tunes, whipping up her hair and giving her audience a great time. You can’t do much of a show when you are just at the beginning of your career, but the artist made the best out of it: small stage, her name in white neon lights in the back. A private gig for belovers of her music. She performed all the songs from Alba, one non-album piece called Sun and a three-track acoustic session as an encore, including her second official single Black Tears White Lies, the nasty Imperial and an italian song she used to sing as a child.
The temperatures outside were high, in the club the air was thick, but VASTA managed to hypnotise the small audience (about 50 people, maybe 60) and send them into a different space. A space full of melancholia and private stories, told through her music.
Take The Gun, a slow and more silent ballad, was the emotional highlight of her show. During its performance it got pretty clear there’s a painfull stroy behind the song.
Still, one of the most memorable moments was the catchy and loud Cut My Hair. Shouting out the chorus and moving her body to the drums (not to mention playing with her hair all the time), the lead single of her debut represented the anthem in VASTA‘s black and white world.
Your music was once described as ‘vintage pop’. How would you describe it by yourself?
(lauhgs) That’s always the hardest question! Yeah, in a way it is ‘vintage pop’, but for me it’s also like a soundtrack of a movie. You have good days, then bad days. Maybe I’m a bit over dramatic sometimes, because I’m italian. I might be a bit too emotional. That’s why I compare my album to an italian black and white movie from the 60’s. Over the top sometimes. It’s super sad and then it’s super funny again.
You’ve just mentioned your Italian roots. I’ve heard you listened to artists like LAURA PAUSINI when you were a child, or LAURYN HILL and JONI MITCHELL when you were a bit older. Which artists do inspire you today?
It’s still JONI MITCHELL. Her music is timeless and she has an amazing voice, I love it. I also like modern music, LONDON GRAMMAR or the stuff of LYKKE LI. But I’m still listening to VELVET UNDERGROUND, FLEETWOOD MAC, JONI MITCHELL or MICHAEL JACKSON. It’s great because it’s still modern, even when it was recorded 20 years ago. It’s timeless. That’s what I like about music. During the production of Alba, I didn’t set any boundaries. I never thought something like ‘Oh no, you can’t do that because nobody is doing it right now’. I just wanted to do something I really liked.
And is there any artist or album you’re listening to at the moment?
I love SOHN‘s new record. Or LYKKE LI‘s I Never Learn. I like that a lot. Or FUTURE ISLANDS.
What do hope and passion mean to you?
(thinking) That’s a great one, because actually those are my favourite words. I wanna be hopeful all the time and I also always hope for the best. It’s really hard starting a career in music, you always have to hope for the best and go on. It can get pretty tough sometimes, you don’t earn a lot of money. I don’t know… I think it’s just really important not to loose hope. And passion is the most important thing. If there is no passion, you don’t have to do it, you know? You have to mean it.
‘A journey of emotional ups and downs’
So after our little chat and seeing LUCA VASTA live on stage, what is her debut Alba all about? Well, it might not be the happiest trip, but it is worth the ride.
LUCA VASTA – Alba
01. Angel Heart
02. Black Tears White Lies
03. Golden Sea
04. Take The Gun
05. Heartbeat Start
06. Dear Alba
07. Imperial (I Don’t Wanna Dance)
08. Sometimes You’re Right
09. Travel Safe
10. Cut My Hair
11. Wicked Games
If you’ve been a fan of the catchy and addictive sound of Cut My Hair in 2013, you won’t be disappointed in the artist’s other work. Although the album consists of more dark tunes, the singer keeps her sound constantly interesting. Yes, it is melancholic, sad and reminds here and then a bit of LANA DEL REY, but the German singer has a certain coolness in her voice, so it is never overdone. Her songs are telling stories about small happenings in life, which sometimes seem so huge. The bone-crushing and heavy title track, Dear Alba, deals with the missed opportunity of telling ‘Good-bye’ to an important person. In Golden Sea, VASTA drowns due to a relationship which works quite good, but takes her down at the same time. On Heartbeat, there’s the thing with falling in love with the wrong man.
Besides the hair-song, there are two more faster tracks on Alba: Sometimes Your Right and the over the top cool and glamorous Imperial (I Don’t Wanna Dance), in which the singer slams down her crush, knowing she is doing exactly the opposite thing with the song.
All those little tales are accompanied by dramatic choirs and catchy beats. It is defenetely pop music, but with strong alternative influences. It sounds more serious, classy or retro than pop tunes from other German artists at the oment. You don’t get bored while listening through the album. There will always be a track you can relate to, because VASTA sings straight out about the experiences of a young adult, trying to find her way. And if Alba stands for sunrise, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, so she will find it. Sooner or later.
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