What It Feels Like for a Girl Ultra
I was first introduced to Girl Ultra last year, when a friend sent me EL SUR. I found myself drawn to the album’s skillful eclecticism, evoking everything from LTJ Bukem to Liz Phair to Massive Attack. Despite its many variations, the album is united by Nan’s voice: a strong and synesthetic guide for an eclectic sound, soft but firm and crystal clear.
With her new single freshly out in the world and a hometown concert scheduled for this Saturday at Mexico City’s spacious Auditorio BB, I met with Nan at her home to hear more about how she’s feeling in this present moment — mentally, energetically, musically. Her apartment reflects the lush tones of her music: lots of ambient golden light, with personal treasures arranged throughout. “I just like things that make me feel happy and that remind me of somewhere or someone, so I have plenty of stuff that used to belong to my grandparents. I like to feel cozy.”
And cozy is a great word to describe her music: not in that it’s all overly tranquil, as her songs are often infused with deep feeling, but in that you feel very close to her both physically and emotionally when you listen to it. EL SUR in particular feels directly honest, with songs about sentiments refined to their purest form; “Nada q hacer” muses on ennui and dissatisfaction, while “Amores de droga” laments destructive love.
For Nan, songwriting is a way to connect with universality. “It's very personal and visceral and raw,” she explains. “But then people ask me, ‘Is this song about this person?’ And it’s like — no, it’s more of a collage of [experiences] where the feeling is the same. You find that rawness in different experiences. For example, saying goodbye. It's not just one person that you've ever said goodbye to. You've said goodbye to things in life, to versions of yourself too. So you just try to find that feeling in every verse, in every space in the song.”
As we shot her portrait in the living room of her apartment, I browsed her shelf of extensive CDs. Her favorite albums from the collection? Boards of Canada’s Music Has The Right To Children (“Very ambient, a lot of textures — an album that I can play at any time of the day”), Madonna’s Ray Of Light (we gushed about this to one another, as it’s been the soundtrack to my year), and Julieta Venegas's Bueninvento (“One of my favorite Julieta albums'').
It’s hard not to hear a range of 90s and 00s influences in the Girl Ultra catalog. “I feel the way that I communicate within music — when I make music — is through [what] I listened to, and the references [there] … Most of the music that inspires me comes from an electronic perspective, with a pop sense. I really like Everything But The Girl, Savage Garden, or even The Cardigans — stuff that used to [play] on the radio but [with] a more niche sense.”
Influences are an important part of Nan’s story. As someone who grew up in Mexico City, the energy of the metropolis is nearly inextricable from her upbringing as an artist. Stepping outside for more photos around her neighborhood, I found that the sights and sounds of her neighborhood echoed the layered sounds and punctuated rhythm of the music we were speaking about — a comforting anchor for her to return to after many days away on tour. “I like seeing the same people in the park here, in the morning, and the same lady that sells avocados outside the supermarket. I like to have these little reminders of what Mexico City is.”
Mexico City has historically produced a range of musicians whose influence can be felt around the world, and Girl Ultra seems poised to join their ranks. Well-known among a North American audience (she opened for Alicia Keys’ Mexico tour dates and toured the US to much acclaim earlier this year), what is even more assuring of her stardom is the artist’s combination of stage presence and vocal dexterity. In her NPR Tiny Desk concert, she sings with conviction, hair whipped from side to side as plays alongside her band.
Looking toward the future, Friday’s hometown concert may be just the beginning of the next chapter, but it’s a meaningful one for the musician. A fitting end to a long tour and a tribute to the people and the place where it all started. “It's a very Scorpio season thing. A very friend-based show — I got the opportunity to make it bigger and make the band fuller,” Nan shared. “I always like to finish my tours [here]. I really enjoy being able to invite the people I grew up with [to the concert]. It's such a milestone, returning to your city.”
