London musician Gianna is bringing back the polished boho-pop of the early 2000s with her debut EP Behind the Wings. The 23-year-old Camdenite's sound, heard on tracks like Shadow of a Bird, recalls artists such as Nelly Furtado, All Saints and Corinne Bailey Rae, blending arpeggiated acoustic guitar, trip-hop beats and a distinctive vocal style.
Gianna's influences extend beyond the Y2K era to include Everything But the Girl's cinematic sweep and Madonna's Ray of Light period. Her music also draws on her Albanian heritage, with hints of Balkan aesthetics woven into the songs. During lockdown, she began writing in Albanian over YouTube beats, and her new work reflects that background.
The title track Shadow of a Bird was inspired by a moment in Kosovo, where Gianna mistook a hummingbird for a falling brick. The song transforms that split-second into a dreamy meditation on reality distortion, reminiscent of Pure Shores.
While nostalgia for the 2000s is not new—artists like Addison Rae and Erika de Casier have explored similar territory—Gianna makes a compelling case for reassessing coffee-shop pop. Her music is bright and effervescent, capturing the spirit of the era's face-wash ads while feeling fresh.
Gianna is currently on tour with After in May, and her EP is out now.
