BELA – “VENUS IN CANCER”
Downtempo/pop surrealist and L.A.-based phenom, BELA, is getting ready to release her new single and self-directed video, “Venus in Cancer” (out March 3), produced by Sky Sky (BBC, MixMag) of Amsterdam label, Barong Family (Wiwek, San Holo). The accompanying visual – imbued with hauntology and Bosch-indebted mythos – draws the curtain on BELA’s cinéma vérité and self-imposed vulnerability, all captured on her handheld camcorder, which documents a carnivalesque date with impromptu footage. “I was on a date with a boy, and wanted to be forthright about what I was doing,” says BELA. “So I said, I’m being artistic… let me be artistic.”
BELA champions her own, self-described hypersensitivity, providing a roadmap for those feeling lovelorn or at times, directionless. “My intention centers around espousing my own heightened sensitivity, in hopes that I myself and others will feel less alone and nurture each other through exposure and composition.” BELA turns the lens on herself before a mirror and signals her sign (i.e. “My heart, my soul, my self esteem”), and also manages to add levity; pointing the camera at her mirror, she smears lipstick across her face, all before a bemused cat, miscellaneous tapestries, spiritual curios and The Lovers card, revealed.
”Venus in Cancer” brandishes swirling synths, glo-fi beats, propulsive blips and samples that invoke the sound of an abandoned landline, while BELA intimates, “I just want to turn you on forever,” counterpointed by “I just want it like it was before,” spinning out the fated rotation of love and heartbreak. In other words – as journalist David Keenan puts it – “pop music refracted through the memory of a memory.” BELA turns in, waving goodbye to the camera while otherworldly, helium-induced vocals churn to a chilling beat. “I’m just an L.A. girl running around the city, experiencing and creating what I see,” says BELA.
The single art for “Venus in Cancer” is freshly plucked from a recent shoot with iconic photog. Moni Haworth (Lil Nas X, Grimes, Petra Collins), where BELA can be seen, stark and cradling a crustacean in a lush garden, an aesthetic that aligns with BELA’s proclivity for the surreal, while underscoring the female gaze.
Relishing in her Greek heritage, BELA looks to spirituality and draws on mythology, citing Pan and Lilith of Eden as sources of inspiration. “I really like archetypes, and I think – despite the fantasy – they help inform our realms of humanity.” BELA plans on releasing a 5-song EP in the next year, but for now – we’re blessed with “Venus in Cancer,” a remarkable sample of BELA’s art, still to come.
BELA champions her own, self-described hypersensitivity, providing a roadmap for those feeling lovelorn or at times, directionless. “My intention centers around espousing my own heightened sensitivity, in hopes that I myself and others will feel less alone and nurture each other through exposure and composition.” BELA turns the lens on herself before a mirror and signals her sign (i.e. “My heart, my soul, my self esteem”), and also manages to add levity; pointing the camera at her mirror, she smears lipstick across her face, all before a bemused cat, miscellaneous tapestries, spiritual curios and The Lovers card, revealed.
”Venus in Cancer” brandishes swirling synths, glo-fi beats, propulsive blips and samples that invoke the sound of an abandoned landline, while BELA intimates, “I just want to turn you on forever,” counterpointed by “I just want it like it was before,” spinning out the fated rotation of love and heartbreak. In other words – as journalist David Keenan puts it – “pop music refracted through the memory of a memory.” BELA turns in, waving goodbye to the camera while otherworldly, helium-induced vocals churn to a chilling beat. “I’m just an L.A. girl running around the city, experiencing and creating what I see,” says BELA.
The single art for “Venus in Cancer” is freshly plucked from a recent shoot with iconic photog. Moni Haworth (Lil Nas X, Grimes, Petra Collins), where BELA can be seen, stark and cradling a crustacean in a lush garden, an aesthetic that aligns with BELA’s proclivity for the surreal, while underscoring the female gaze.
Relishing in her Greek heritage, BELA looks to spirituality and draws on mythology, citing Pan and Lilith of Eden as sources of inspiration. “I really like archetypes, and I think – despite the fantasy – they help inform our realms of humanity.” BELA plans on releasing a 5-song EP in the next year, but for now – we’re blessed with “Venus in Cancer,” a remarkable sample of BELA’s art, still to come.