Nailah Hunter: Transportive Magic for Harp, Electronics & Voice

The music of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Nailah Hunter opens gateways into magical worlds. Shimmering with dulcet harp tones and dreamy electronics, her debut EP Spells was released by LA’s acclaimed Leaving Records in May 2020 and described by Rolling Stone as “one of the best recent releases of its kind.”

About Nailah: 

Born in Manhattan and raised in LA - the daughter of a Belizean pastor - playing drums and acoustic guitar in her dad’s church band and singing in its choir. As a teenager, her growing interest in classical and jazz artists like Erik Satie, Alice Coltrane, and the soundtracks of Miyazaki films began to crystallise into the delicately ethereal musicality that led her to composing the songs on Spells.

A key turning point came aged 19, when she received a baby harp as a gift. She was already a student at CalArts, developing a keenly trained compositional sense and a perfectly smoky singing voice. Enchanted with her new instrument, she began creating radiant soundscapes, weaving together glittering harp melodies with field recordings, voice, and mystic imagery from the Tarot, Greek mythology, and Arthurian Legend. Her songs - like lush, fantasy landscapes or pools of moonlit water - are Edenic worlds, shining with transcendent wonder and healing energies.

Nailah hosts a monthly NTS radio show, Astral Garden, and has collaborated with Lyra Pramuk, No Joy, John Carroll Kirby and Bing and Ruth. She is also a member of New Age supergroup Galdre Visions along with Leaving Records labelmates Green-House, Yialmelic Frequencies and Ami Dang. In June 2020, she released the standalone single “Black Valhalla” to raise funds for the Loveland Foundation, a charity providing therapy to young black girls.

Listen to samples of Nailah Hunter's music on Bandcamp and read an interview in the NY Times.