Ness Nite is from the future. At least, that’s what their artist bio suggests. Based in Minneapolis, the 24-year-old non-binary artist makes dreamy, glitchy, buzzing pop music with twinges of hip-hop and alternative sensibilities.
Ness deals in surreal soundscapes. Imagine their canvas spread out across a studio floor, and imagine them throwing buckets of pastel paint all over the room. Then, imagine them throwing themselves into the blots of paint, submerging themselves and filling the canvas all at once. The Ness Nite experience is a wholly tactile and engulfing one.
“Unusual” is the self-produced first taste from Ness’ upcoming project Killing Chiron, the follow-up to their 2018 debut Dream Girl.
In a statement that came with the advance listen, Ness describes the single, released via POW Recordings, as “about victims of gender-based violence taking justice with our own hands.”
In an era where we are centering our queer communities during America’s uprisings, “Unusual” slots into the canon of the moment, with ballooning synths that prove themselves timeless.
Ness Nite calls me up on a balmy July morning to discuss their new single, America’s uprisings, the Minneapolis art scene, and their best advice for well-meaning white folx.