Shura premieres ‘Indecision’ video
Radio 1 Future Festival, SXSW, Village Underground headline show (March 25)
“Shura sings for that soul-searing moment when hearts are not breaking, but broken” Pitchfork
“Soft, vaguely 70s/80s pop filtered through 90s R&B…Shura is the real deal” Fader
“Shura takes it to a whole new level” NME
“Packed with poise and drama…sensual and addictive” Clash
“Sit up and listen” Sunday Times
‘INDECISION’ LIVE AT RADIO 1’S FUTURE FESTIVAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgl9yZ9-MRI
JUNGLE REMIX OF ‘INDECISION’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ek6mY9Ksqk
VILLAGE UNDERGROUND TICKETS: http://www.axs.com/uk/events/255833/shura-tickets?skin=goldenvoice
Shura has premiered the video to latest track ‘Indecision’, fresh from her nomination for the BBC Sound of 2015 list and last night’s appearance at Radio 1’s Future Festival (alongside the likes of James Bay, and Years and Years). The Anglo-Russian singer and producer has also been confirmed for this year’s SXSW festival, also playing Eurosonic, Sonar Stockholm and a March 25 headline date at Village Underground. With ‘Indecision’ added to the In New Music We Trust list at Radio 1, going Top 10 on iTunes’ Electronic chart and reaching #1 on Hype Machine, Shura is currently writing and recordings songs for her debut album, which will be released in the UK via Polydor Records later this year.
A striking take on gender, sexuality and identity assumptions, directors Emily McDonald and Nev Brook describe the ‘Indecision’ video as “a film about freedom and change…it’s a journey from one existence to another. We wanted to play with people’s first impressions and how they are often not the whole story.” ‘Indecision’ again features a wider cast of Shura’s friends – many of whom snogged in the clip for ‘Touch’, and can now be seen in the club scene – as well as a cameo from Shura herself.
2014 saw Shura establish herself as one of the most resonant new voices in Pop, with debut track ‘Touch’ earning fans diverse enough to include Jessie Ware (who Shura’s since remixed), Jungle (who’ve remixed Shura) and Chloe Moretz…and already passing 5 million hits (despite no official release). This summer’s ‘Just Once’ (ironically) repeated the trick, signalling the sound of an artist, producer and remixer on a singular path, at her own pace. More upbeat but just as emotive, ‘Indecision’ is deft, contemporary mix of twinkling, ‘Lucky-Star’-era Madonna with the bedroom-R&B grooves of Blood Orange, filtered through a haze of Balearic synths and swirling, Warpaint-inspired guitars. Lyrically, ‘Indecision’ falls in that appropriately messy middle-ground between the post-break-up anthem of ‘Touch’, and ‘Just Once’s’ bittersweet fantasy of fresh attraction: this is about having no clue where you stand in a relationship, and subsequently who you are as a person. In its breathy, anxious refrain, ‘Indecision’ simply asks your partner to call it, one way or the other (“Tell me why / we can’t make this work / it may be over but there’s something you should know / you’ve got my love boy, you’ve got my love”).
A performer, producer, remixer and video editor, Shura was born in Moscow to a Russian actress and an English documentary filmmaker. Her passion for music came via her brother, who would DJ drum-and-bass at the weekends, installing an early love of electronic music in his sister. Keen to impress him, Shura began building her own songs at University, though her songwriting would find its focus in South America, where she worked for an extended period after her studies – contemplating past relationships, and future music. Between working in The Amazon and walking pumas, Shura “came back less afraid to attack pop, and make it my own thing”: she began working as an assistant video editor, writing songs in the quiet night-shifts and recruiting her close friends to kiss on camera for the DIY but quickly-viral video for ‘Touch’ (they soon found themselves being turned into gifs, apart from Shura – who didn’t get to snog anybody). It’s this personal but playful twist on the often-luxurious classic R&B which will see Shura – for instance – base the ‘Indecision’ artwork on a scene from 1990’s cult-sci-fi-classic Total Recall (in partnership with illustrator Louise Pomeroy). Immediately-recognisable in both sound and sentiment, ‘Indecision’ is that next step from an artist who, despite it all, remains decisive in all the right places.
LIVE
Tue Jan 13 – BBC Radio 1’s Future Festival
Tue Jul 21 – Croatia Rocks Festival 2015
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