Neusha So Lost
A singer deciding how far her voice can travel often reveals more than any declared aesthetic. In “So Lost”, released in July, London-based singer-songwriter Neusha treats sound as something that grows outward from experience rather than something applied after the fact. The track feels guided by curiosity rather than outcome, as if the arrangement exists to extend the emotional space she is already inhabiting. This is not a search for what works or what circulates easily, but a more private process of listening inward and responding. Neusha’s description of herself as bound by lyricism, not genre, lands naturally here. Writing sets the direction, while sound follows, supporting rather than steering the moment. What stands out is the sense that the production is in conversation with her voice rather than framing it. The warmth and restraint feel earned, shaped around tone and breath, allowing emotion to surface without being instructed. It recalls a lineage of singers who have used sound to deepen experience rather than decorate it, where control comes from knowing when to leave space rather than how to fill it.
At the core of Neusha’s work is a commitment to storytelling that owes as much to poetry as to song. Her interest in linguistics and metaphor gives her writing a careful, considered quality, where meaning shifts subtly depending on context and delivery. Influences such as Jeff Buckley and the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish hover in the background, not as templates but as reference points for emotional precision. There is also a broader cultural openness at play, shaped by growing up between classic Western songwriting and Iranian musical traditions, which informs her refusal to settle into a single genre identity. Jazz, soul, pop, and bossa nova appear less as categories than as tools, drawn upon when they serve the narrative. Crucially, the collaborators around her seem attuned to this process. Rather than imposing a sound, they work in service of her vocal character, allowing arrangements to emerge organically from the writing. At 22, Neusha feels very much in the process of becoming, and “So Lost” captures that state with honesty. It does not rush to define who she is meant to be. Instead, it documents a singer learning how her voice wants to exist in the world, and trusting that listening closely is, for now, enough.