NOIA – the alias of Barcelona-born, Brooklyn-based singer and producer Gisela Fullà-Silvestre – has teamed up with Ela Minus for a new single, ‘Didn’t Know’. It’s set to appear on her upcoming debut LP gisela, which is out March 31 (via Cascine) and includes the previously released single ‘eclipse de amor’, featuring Buscabulla. Check out the Lola Blanc-directed video for ‘Didn’t Know’ below (via Metal Magazine).
Discussing the new song, NOIA said in a press release:
“didn’t know” is an ode to my friends in nyc. an ode to all the bad dating we’ve done in this city and how we’ve survived through staying together and laughing together. it’s also an ode to the nightlife of this city. I borrowed a couple of dialogue lines from Mad Men for the lyrics: this song is playfully centered around the idea of singing to the ultimate fuckboy, don draper. I have collected so many whatsapp audio messages (or whatsapp podcasts lol) from my friends sharing their late night experiences, so I wanted to bring those bits and pieces of dialogue into the song, that’s why there’s that sound design club bathroom moment in the song and that’s why you can hear them discovering the magic of autotune towards the end of the song.
I had to invite Ela Minus to sing this song as a duet: she is one of my good friends with whom I’ve shared these experiences with, endless dinners in Brooklyn laughing away our love adventures. but also, when i started this beat (with a drum machine and not in the box as I usually make beats) I realized I was getting inspired by her amazing beat making style. so I sent the track to her during the pandemic and she recorded her beautiful airy vocals in it, half in English, half in Spanish.
Musically this is my Prince song, it’s definitely a hot pink song. I wanted the voices to feel like a wall of airy rhythmic sexy vibes. but then the beat and the bass to feel chaotic and industrial.
Of the video, she added:
Lola Blanc is an amazing director and artist, and she knows how to find that sweet spot between humor, horror, high fashion and feeling. The concept behind this surreal video was friends being VERY bored and done with fuckboys, so bored they can only yawn and roll their eyes. We also created the ultimate fuckboy, seating in his office, gaslighting his gf on the phone like a pro. At the same time, we wanted this video to feel very earnest, since at the end of the day this song is about friendship and laughing away the love troubles so half of the video is just dancing and having fun. Some of the visual references for this video were Prince (Batman era), the 5th Element (the movie!), Almodovar’s Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Mad Men, Sex and the City, Thierry Mugler, y2k fantasies and mars attack. Yuri Tachi created the styling for this video, which was a vision of rainbow colors and textures.
Last year, Ela Minus followed up her 2020 debut album Acts of Rebellion with ♡, a collaborative EP with DJ Python. Read our interview with Ela Minus and DJ Python.
