Star on the rise in the Lower East Side: Nikita Lev
On a breezy Tuesday night on the Lower East Side, hip bar Pianos hosted singer and New York native, nineteen-year-old Nikita Lev for an intimate concert in their backroom. Before the show began, the concert goers milled about, chatting over happy hour drinks. Nonchalantly, Lev climbed onto the stage with her guitarist Dan to start the show. After a short greeting, she began with “I Think of You Unspeakably,” which is as of now, unreleased (as was the closing song “Nihilistic Baby”). A song she qualified with “this is the hard part.” Fitting, considering the song was about falling in love with your guy friend when he doesn’t reciprocate.
In between her own songs, she did a mashup cover of the 1975’s “Somebody Else” with Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which was an unexpected twist, but a crowd hit. The bands are two of her musical inspirations among many. Some of which include: Lana Del Rey, Leonard Cohen, Caroline Polachek, Dora Jar, and Taylor Swift. Lev shared that Swift was the catalyst for her to pursue music as more than a passing hobby. I asked Nikita Lev what about these artists inspired her to follow that catalyst. In response, she shared that “the weirdness and courage within their production” lit her fire creatively, so to speak. As a daughter of an actress, Lev has always been drawn to the arts, but has found that music has worked as the most suitable outlet for her. On her site, she shares that she “crafts music that is honest, confident, and mature.” At such a young age, she is well on her way to accomplishing that goal.
Her first single, “Elegance,” dropped February 27th of this year and has already garnered 350,000 streams on Spotify. Mind you, her first EP has not even dropped yet, but keep an eye for it and check out her available singles on Spotify and Youtube!