All across the cultural landscape, it would seem as though many young people wish for a return to a past, simpler time.
Whether it be a reaction to contemporary political discourse, or a staunch hatred of corporate minimalism, there has been a resurgence of the younger generations engaging with older styles and forms of media. Physical media in the form of CD, Vinyl Records, and DVD have seen increasing sales. Thrift store culture and a vintage fashion sense still remain staples of a large amount of peoples’ wardrobes. Even so much of the music released in recent memory is heavily inspired by past styles of music. So many Singer-Songwriters this decade have been releasing tunes with soul, jazz, folk, or even just an older style of pop as their influence. Artists like Clairo or Laufey are the most popular examples to most. However, among the several artists in this class is perhaps one of the best, and one of the most underrated, Liana Flores.
Liana Flores was born and raised in the countryside of South Norfolk, England, to a Brazilian Mother and British Father. Music has always been a part of her life, formally beginning in choir, while in Primary school. She has played piano since childhood, but took up the guitar while she was in her mid-teenage years. She did this in order to play the bossa nova music she grew up around. All through her youth, she listened to bossa Nova artists such as Gal Costa, Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, and Caetano Veloso. However, she didn’t have much connection to her cultural background. And being able to play this music which tied her to that background was and likely still is a driving influence. In fact, all throughout her career up to now, attempts at connection through music has led her down the pathway that it has.
While she was in her late teens, she was bored living in Norfolk, as there was not a lot to do there. It was these feelings of being boxed in without much to do that propelled her to start uploading music online. To serve as creative outlet, she independently released ukulele covers of showtunes on Tiktok and Youtube under the channel “Ukulili”. And during the Covid-19 shutdown, she further explored the world of music production. However, it was not until in 2021 that her 2019 song “rises the moon” went viral and she was able to do music professionally. At the time, she was pursuing a career in zoology, studying at the University of St. Andrews, from which she graduated in 2022. But, due to the attention she attracted, she was able to go into music, signing to Verve Records in 2024.
Flores has released 2 EPs, “The Water’s Fine!” in 2018 and “Recently”, in 2019 respectively. And her debut Studio album entitled “Flower of the Soul” was released June 28, 2024. The album featured singles “I Wish For The Rain”, “Night visions”, and “Orange-Coloured Day”. All of her music wears its jazz and bossa nova influences on its sleeve. Flores also says she was influenced by 1960s folk music. Citing, in particular, Vashti Bunyan, Caetano Veloso, Nick Drake, and Joan Baez. Citing that she loves how these genres can be played and recreated with just a voice and guitar. Which comes through in the fairly simple, yet gorgeous melodies she arranges into such otherworldy, fantasy-like tunes. All these styles come together, with the help of her lighter than air vocal timbre, to create a sort of mystical, dream-like sound. She presents a beautiful mix of melancholy and intimate serenity in her lyrical ability and songwriting. Her music makes the perfect soundtrack for a long walk through the woods, or stargazing on a cool summers night.
