Kate NV Album Reviews

Moscow-based artist Kate NV was born Eaterina Shilonosova in Kazan, Russia’s fifth largest city. She’s a woman of many talents – she also serves as vocalist for the post-punk band Glintshake, and has also worked with a collective of avant-garde musicians playing modern classical music.

I have no problem listening to Stockhausen followed by Christina Aguilera. Being snobbish closes doors.
Kate NV, Music Radar

Kate NV released her solo debut Binasu in 2016, juxtaposing minimalism with Japanese city pop. I first heard of her with 2020’s Room for the Moon, with some exquisitive Kate Bush-style balladry. She sings in Russian, English, and French.

Kate NV Album Reviews

Ticket to Fame (Decisive Pink)

10 Best Kate NV Songs

Kate NV Album Reviews

Binasu

2016, 7/10
Kate NV was already an experienced musician when she released her solo debut. She fronted alt-rock band Glintsnake and played with Moscow Scratch Orchestra, where she worked on avant-garde classical music. On Binasu, Japanese for Venus, she expresses her own identity, inspired by musical heroes like Laurie Anderson, Tears for Fears, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. She revisited childhood influences – 1980s Japanese pop, children’s films, and anime.

It’s often minimalist, with repetitive Japanese city pop-style instrumentals. But she delivers engaging songs when she feels like it. ‘Kata’, the most accessible track, sounds like Kate Bush blended with 1980s city pop. The title track has a nursery rhyme-ish, sing-along quality. It sounds great juxtaposed with the simple, repetitive synth lines.

Binasu is a fascinating debut, but it only scratches the surface of Kate NV’s potential.

для FOR

2018, 5.5/10
NV collaborated with director Sasha Kulak on a short film, using tracks from For as background music. For wasn’t planned as a soundtrack, but it works as one – it’s ambient and mostly instrumental.

I’m sure For has its fans, but it’s like the least interesting ideas from Binasu stretched into a full album. Her explanation of the music is more interesting than the music itself – she told The Fader: “The way I made all the tracks, I was just sitting alone in my room in Moscow with an open window. For me, the process was so natural. I had a feeling that [I’d] been collecting information inside of myself and getting inspired by some random things, and the hardest part for me was to sit down and start something.”

Room For The Moon

2020, 8.5/10
Room for the Moon is Kate NV’s third solo album, marking a significant increase in her profile. It’s a concept album about the moon, occupying an art-pop space comparable with Cate Le Bon or Kate Bush. Room for the Moon is kitsch and infused with childlike wonder, but it’s also substantial musically.

Kate NV eschews rock textures, instead combining electronic rhythms with orchestral instruments. Post-punk bass shares space with Japanese 1980s synth-pop. She sings in four different languages – French, Japanese, English, and Russian.

Room For The Moon starts meekly with instrumental tracks. Second track ‘Du Na’ percolates with a smooth late-night jazz feel, and the record doesn’t reach a full head of steam until the rhythm enters on fourth track ‘Ça commence par’.

Unusually, the poppier songs are clustered in the second half of the record – ‘Telefon’ has a 1980s flavour with a great vocal hook and synth part. ‘Plans’ is built around a fretless bass constantly in motion, while ‘Lu Na’ recalls Steve Reich with its interlocking synths.

Room for the Moon is a fascinating record that combines disparate musical traditions into a playful tribute to the moon.

Bouquet

2022
Bouquet is a sidenote in Kate NV’s discography – it’s not readily available. Shilonosova recorded it to support Helping to Leave, an organisation assisting Ukrainian refugees. It’s improvised, created with long-time collaborator Andrey Bessonov.

WOW

2023, 7/10
Kate NV recorded WOW before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a tumultuous time for everyone around the world, but doubly so in Russia – Shilonosova told MusicRadar that “Everything is so unpredictable that I cannot plan ahead because I am not grounded and almost all of my friends left my country.” This record focuses on electronic sounds and loops of organic samples – she told HHV Mag that she was influenced by the soundtracks to the Sega games she played growing up.

The more electronic and sample-based sound of Wow is less successful than her previous studio record, Room for the Moon. When it works it’s joyful and fun. When it doesn’t work it can be a little grating. The best tracks are very strong – the opening pair of ‘Oni (They)’ and ‘Confessions at the Dinner Table’ are among the most memorable tracks. The latter was created with London-based producer Quinn Oulton. The closing ‘Meow Chat’ was my favourite track with a charming music video.

Wow isn’t my favourite Kate NV project – the art-pop of Room for the Moon is markedly stronger in my book. But it’s the mark of a strong artist that she can create fascinating music in an entirely different idiom.

Ticket to Fame (Decisive Pink)

2023, 7.5/10
Decisive Pink is a collaboration between Shilonosova and American musician Angel Deradoorian. Deradoorian was previously a member of The Dirty Projectors. The pair created Ticket to Fame at a studio in Cologne using a wide array of synthesizers – Deradoorian referred to it as the “synth-dome”.

It’s frivolous and fun – as you can probably tell from song titles like ‘Ode to Boy’ and ‘Potato Tomato’. But it’s charming anyway. Favourites include ‘Dopamine’, about the effects of consumerism on the brain, with the pair relishing singing together. Opening ‘Haffmilch Holiday’ is full of squelching synths.

Ticket to Fame isn’t particularly serious, but it’s enjoyable anyway.