Following the successful release of her debut EP titled 'Aura,' Mississauga Music's Best New Solo Artist of 2020, and Dropout Entertainment's winner of the Best Pop Video of 2020, Dani Kristina has established her sound as an up and coming artist.
Known for her melodic bops, she takes after musical influences such as Taylor Swift, Lennon Stella, Halsey, and countless other inspirations. Finding her footing amongst her signature style, Dani Kristina is a confident, mature, creative, and open-minded artist with diverse musical roots, which allows her to experiment with complex harmonies within her songwriting.
The captivating essence of her most recent single, "Habit," has us feeling the pulsating 808s as we enter the hypnotic trance she conveys. Thriving in a realm that contrasts upbeat tenors and mid-tempo dynamism, Dani Kristina's elusive timbres sculpt an intoxicating vivacity laced into the soundscape present.
Allowing us to conceptualize the deeper meaning behind "Habit," Dani Kristina makes it, so you're hanging on to each lyrical motif shed. 'Is it true that you moved out of this good for nothing little town?' is a prime example of the carefully crafted wedding that Dani Kristina uses to elevate her storytelling techniques to have us feasting on a sonic buffet of picturesque melodies.
With flashbacks of nostalgia that fill our hearts with longing, the emotion struck up in this record is rather undeniable. You find yourself sifting through a bank of moods, more potent than the last as "Habit" progresses.
Dani Kristina has a little bit of something for every listener to place ears on her music, from danceable pop anthems to moody, emotional ballads. Wrapping us in the auditory eclipse that is "Habit," we'll be using the repeat button rather frequently on this one.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Dani Kristina, and congratulations on the release of your most recent single, "Habit." You use an array of descriptive lyrics to make this composition leap from the speakers. What inspired the detailed storyline that you've placed into this song?
"Habit" is a really personal song for me. When I first started writing it, I wanted to capture the feeling of falling out of love, and so I reflected on the ways that the little things about life might remind us of a past relationship. Little things like getting a coffee or hearing about what an ex is doing can sometimes be hard, but "Habit" explores what happens after you're done grieving. While we might still remember the exact date and time of an event in our life, sometimes we can do that without it hurting so much and without feeling a single thing. We might count the days since someone broke our heart, but at some point, we forget why we even started counting. It's really a song about acceptance, and I feel like detailed, seemingly unimportant parts of our storyline can affect us quite deeply. I wrote "Habit" to show how you can go from seeing the pain in everything… to no longer seeing a person in the faces of strangers and finally moving on.
Could you please share a glimpse of what the creative process entailed when bringing this song to life? What was it like tapping into your vulnerability to allow this song to thrive at its full potential?
When bringing this song to life, it started just like most of my songs, at the grand piano in my house with all the lights off. I like writing in the dark because it helps me compose my thoughts without any distractions. I remember when I first got the idea for this song, and it was actually at about 3:45 AM (or something), and I realized for the first time in a while that I was over a pretty intense heartbreak, and that's something I wanted to put into words. Up until 2021, I had been pretty vague about my personal experiences in the music I released, as I preferred to reveal my personal life through imagery and metaphors in my lyrics. So, it was pretty scary to be this vulnerable, knowing I would release this for everyone to hear, but I just had this overwhelming joy that I was finally feeling like myself again after feeling so sad for so long, and I wanted to put that into words. Once I poured the song out of me, it felt like a letter to someone I used to care about, and once the song was finished in the studio, it felt like the perfect way to end off a trilogy of songs I released this year. Writing is my therapy, and after writing so many heartbreak songs, it was refreshing to pour my heart out for my own peace.
What's your favorite lyric from "Habit?" Why?
That's such a tough one! I think it would probably be, "I could've sworn I saw a man that looked like you when I went to get my coffee." I feel like it sums up the overarching emotion of the song, how things that usually would have made someone feel either uncomfortable or overwhelmed with emotion no longer have the power to do so.
With a music video available for all to see, what can your audience expect when tuning into the "Habit" visuals? Was this your vision from the beginning?
I am such a huge fan of creating visuals for my music. Whenever I write, I have a certain image in my mind that fuels the lyrics and inspires me during the writing process. When anyone tunes into the "Habit" video, they can expect to feel like they're peering into an album of photographs of a love that once was, to be taken on a journey through a city that I've lived in my entire life and felt so many feelings in. I visit a parking lot near my house, a park, and some other landmarks, taking the viewer on a little tour of my home city, kind of how "Habit" references memories made in one place. I knew from the beginning that I wanted dancers to be going throughout the city as I sang in it, and Jelena Latkovic and Mya Lazic made that vision come to life. The whole video is meant to show a person revisiting places they fell in love with, and the dancing is meant to show how places that once broke your heart can be beautiful again.
Do you have any other releases planned before the end of the year?
I've been keeping it sort of lowkey, but listeners of mine can definitely expect something to drop around the holidays… stay tuned!
