NOIA today shares the new video for her wistful track “Itaca Tropical” taken from her EP Habits. The song is inspired by Kavafy’s poem ‘Ithaka’. NOIA explains, “it’s about the idea of returning home, to your island, the idea of seeing your home on the horizon—heading there is your journey. But the idea of home keeps shifting and sometimes after you find your Ithaca, you part again to find a new Ithaca to keep your journey alive.”

For the video NOIA worked with director Joan Galo, who shared, “Kavafy’s poem ‘Ithaka’ talks about Ulises’s journey back to his island, Ithaka. I understood this journey as the journey of our lives, full of dangers, dreams, desires, demons. I wanted to play with this idea of destroying the past, the present and the future, and not being able to understand what’s the reality of the character of NOIA.”

NOIA (Gisela Fulla-Silvestre) was born and raised in Barcelona, the only daughter of her activist and intellectual parents. Her father was part of a clandestine Communist party that fought against the Franco dictatorship, often spending time in prison as a result. Her mother was a pioneer in the field of child psychology. Together they fought for democracy in Spain, instilling in Gisela a deep reverence for community along the way. In addition to revolutionary discourse, music was a constant in her home – Traditional Catalan, Rumba, Flamenco and French artists were regularly heard. Her young mind grew fixated on philosophy while her heart became obsessed with music.

Having completed a degree in film scoring & sound design at Berklee, NOIA is now based in New York where she’s developed a community of other obsessives who have pushed her to be as serious with her art as she is about her career. She took their advice and doubled-down on a body of work that captures her point-of-view on pop music. When director Allie Avital eventually introduced her to Cascine last spring, a mutual connection was formed and plans were made to work towards a release together.

A note from the video director, Joan Galo:

‘The song Itaca Topical is inspired in the Kavafy’s poem ‘Ithaca’, which talks about Ulises’s journey back to his island, Ithaca. I understood this journey as the journey of our lives, full of dangers, dreams, desires, demons. I imagine our fate as a circular voyage instead of a straight line. In the center of this circle, our essence remains while circumstances keep changing.

That’s why there’s a sense of repetition in the video, the sets are presented with different lighting but they’re still the same. I wanted to play with this idea of destroying the past, the present and the future, and not being able to understand what’s the reality of the character of NOIA.’