CHIKISS

Having launched her career 15 years ago with post-punk and psychedelic rock, the singer and composer Galina Ozeran, better known as Chikiss, has recorded an impressive catalogue of amazing music over the years, both as a solo artist and in various collaborations. Her oeuvre includes everything from dreamy electro and minimalistic synthesiser pop to noise rock and fully fledged pop music. Despite the transformations that accompany her every release and project, Chikiss preserves her unique style. Her persona is one marked by symbolic lyrics, a somewhat standoffish stance, a certain otherworldliness, and romantic, mellifluous tones that seem to come from a distant past. Recorded on analogue synthesisers, her songs pay tribute to the traditions already set down by the pioneering female artists of electronica – from Delia Derbyshire and Suzanne Ciani to Laurie Anderson and Space Lady – and these are combined with the legacy of Soviet electronica, a sound which remains practically unknown beyond the borders of Russia.