Nina de Vitry makes music that will both relax you and compel you, that will make you think and give you solace. She digs deeply into feelings, all of them, and weaves a sense of “you are not alone” into all of her songs, bringing succor to those who need it. Her songwriting is whip-smart and thoughtful, and her music is a lovely amalgam of genres; it floats lovingly above the convergence point of her influences — folk, jazz, Americana, Latin, pop, and more. It might make her brand new album, “What You Feel Is Real,” hard to categorize, but we’re all in on the many flavors, textures, and gorgeous sensibility that permeate the songs. We sat down to chat with de Vitry recently about this stunning record.
Hi Nina! You have a terrific new album that just came out August 25th called “What You Feel Is Real.” How did these songs come together and what broad strokes can you tell us about the collection?
Hi there, thanks for having me! I wrote these songs over the course of the last few years, and chose ones for this album that I felt encompassed some of my most important experiences and lessons from my early 20s. The collection includes a variety of songs intended to help validate and celebrate all shades of human emotions… the beautiful, the difficult, and the complicated.
One of the songs on your new album, “Open,” is really great and stood out to me. What can you tell us about this song? What inspired you to write it and what is it about?
Thank you so much! Broadly, “Open” was inspired by the many ways in which I saw myself and others close off to the world during the pandemic. I wanted the production of this track to be simple, yet to embody the aching feeling of wanting to feel connected and open-hearted again.
What was it like recording this album overall? What was the vibe in the studio, and how did this song, in particular, come together?
Overall, recording this album was equal parts gratifying and difficult. The vibe in the studio was wonderful, because the team of people I selected was very supportive and dedicated to the music. After the full band tracking, I will admit that it felt like a marathon to complete the comping and overdubs, because it was such a large project, and I had such specific ideas about how I wanted everything to be. Of course, this kind of perfectionism can be both a blessing and a curse. I had to pace myself and schedule out everything in an organized way to keep the faith that I was on track and going to complete it all at some point. This song in particular was a lot of fun, because it was simple in its instrumentation but complex in its arrangement. Basically, we tracked guitar and vocals, and then I worked with Duncan Wickel as a string arranger. He put the meat of the arrangement together, and then I ended up overdubbing a triple violin part that I had previously arranged in a composition class. It was actually very cool how it came together, because it just worked out that my previously arranged part happened to fit perfectly atop the canvas Duncan had prepared. For the cherry on top, I added some vocal harmonies.
Since you started out, how has your songwriting changed — both musically and lyrically? Do different things inspire you now? Where do you tend to get your biggest inspiration from these days?
I love this question, and it’s something I’ve been pondering myself recently. Lyrically, I feel that I’ve gotten a bit clearer with the messages I am intending to communicate. I think I used to think I needed to sound fancy and poetic in my language, and now I would rather have what I sing be clear to listeners than to come across as clever or profound. Musically, I think I am also finding ways to refine my musical statements and themes. I have always been inspired by my own personal trials and experiences, and I would say that this is where I get most of my inspiration. I also get inspiration from other artists, writers, and singers, though who inspires me at one given moment seems to always be changing.
Songwriting can be a really personal endeavor. Is it tough to share that stuff that usually might be private if you weren’t writing a song about it? Does unveiling the songs publicly, when you release a single or an EP or album, make you anxious or is it cathartic to have the songs out there?
For the most part, it is really cathartic for me to release personal songs out into the world. I’m an external processor in general, and I love discussing feelings with my friends. If there was ever anything I was uncomfortable sharing with a wider audience, I simply wouldn’t put it in a song. For the most part, though, I feel like the majority of things I’ve been through are fair game. My hope is that sharing things honestly can be cathartic in some way to listeners, too.
What is one word you’d use to describe how you feel about releasing this album?
Grateful
It’s not uncommon for an artist to be working on something new while promoting an album. Do you have anything in the pipeline to follow this album? What’s next from Nina de Vitry?
I don’t have any new albums on the way just yet, but will definitely be digging back into a more consistent writing practice this winter! I am definitely cyclical when it comes to my creativity, so I usually have to wait for a big project to clear before having the energy to invest in a new one.
