How Beauty Shapes Music Creation

Many would agree that there’s beauty in music. It is, after all, an art form that transcends mediums to invoke an array of feelings. In this feature, we speak to three up-and-coming artists about how beauty shapes music creation

- Melissa MAE

NORA MAE

A product of generational talent, Rachel Shapiro, who now goes by Nora Mae, is carrying on her family's musical legacy. The granddaughter of late American singer Eartha Kitt has just put out her debut single Rendezvous, and will be releasing a four-song EP Moonchild later this summer.

“My history with music really stems from growing up in the industry with my grandmother being a performer,” Nora Mae says. “I felt it in my blood. Some of my earliest memories were of me dreaming of following in her footsteps, singing to thousands of fans in my bedroom mirror.”

“Life often finds a way of derailing even the most solidified plans, but I found my way back to that dream in my early 20's in a really beautiful, authentic way after trying a few different paths that never felt quite right. The moment I started using music as a way of expression, it clicked. That thought was like: ‘Maybe I could really do this...!

Creatively, the artist gets inspired by New Wave French cinema and European culture that's reminiscent of Jane Birkin and Anna Karina's works. “I love watching the process from the start to the finish of a song,” she elaborates. “Coming into the room with a concept, and a few hours later, being able to sing along to something that conveys that very concept, or some emotion, or a moment in time – it's such a wild, transformative sensation.

As for her most recent projects Rendezvous and Moonchild, Nora Mae calls the creative process a unique one, which makes sense considering it was done remotely over Zoom during the pandemic. “Rendezvous was the first song we wrote. After that, I had a few concepts I was really inspired to write about, and we’d get on these nine to 10 hour Zoom sessions.”