Anastasia Nikoulina’s debut “In coherence” has a quiet sense of foreboding generated by string drones and meditative yet menacing and urgent piano work. Her vocals contrast that energy with an introspective, smoky quality that reflects her words asking questions about the workings of the human mind and the way the mind struggles to comprehend a world of constant stimulation that we sort through in every waking moment and casting much of that aside in pursuit of significant perceptions from the external world and the content of what’s going on inside our own minds and how that balance can be relatively easily disrupted. The orchestrated tonal and rhythmic emphases and changing dynamics parallels this process and so the song feels like something we’ve experienced directly without it having to work hard to reach natural comprehension. Even the percussion has a cadence like a heartbeat and so the whole piece is like hearing the equivalent of the experience of daily human life. Listen to “In coherence” on Spotify.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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