Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Zueva found herself living in Norway at the age of eight. Isolated by cultural differences and confusion, she found herself through dance and, ultimately, songwriting. This blended upbringing would gradually become central to her music, energizing her with a knack for blending sounds and concepts.
Her latest offering is perhaps her must subdued to date, a gorgeously subtle folk tune. It wasn’t borne of easy times, however. She explains, “During the past year I developed anxiety which manifested physically in my body. I felt trapped and limited, so I desperately searched for the reason why this was happening.“
Intending the song as, “part of [her] thought process towards healing,” it’s only natural that it’d result in one of her most serene songs. Supported by simple, yet beautiful, guitar strumming and the echoes of a distant trumpet, it’s distinctly, disarmingly homegrown.
Reflecting on the song, Zueva expands, “Writing the music actually helped me. I figured I might be too close to the problem, so much that I wasn’t able to identify it. It could be my relationship with my boyfriend, the music, my friends. The natural thing was to blame my most intimate relationship, the one with my boyfriend. But then I thought that the problem might lie in my perspective on things, how past experiences twisted my perception of the present. Maybe the problem lies in my relationship with myself and this is all just a defence mechanism?“
“Too Close” at once reflects and offers a way forward. It’s the first offering from her approaching 5:1 EP, due in April. Check it out below or on your preferred streaming platform.
