CRISTINA BLACK
“Soft jams the likes of which we’re definitely not treated to every day. Black is a talent in her own right.” —The Fader
“The sonic equivalent of a soft focus, slo-mo pan of a two naked people dancing around in a field of daisies. TAKE ME THERE.” — Noisey
“Totally wonderful, elegiac ditties that float on by.” —Refinery29
“Black has a knack for pretty, dark pop tunes.” —Time Out New York
“Supremely talented.” —Time Out Los Angeles
“Enchantingly poignant…and just a little bit scary.” —Philthy Mag
“She’s like a pretty Leonard Cohen.” —overhead in NYC
She has the dour deadpan of Nico, the impossible drama of Lana Del Rey, the gothic confessionalism of Nick Cave and the down-to-earth feminism of Carole King. And yet, Los Angeles singer-songwriter Cristina Black is an artist all her own. Her songs will blacken your soul, rip your heart to bloody bits and then shine a heavenly light on the whole mess. And she’ll make you like it.
First-call harpist for shamanic singer Father John Misty, the multi-instrumentalist has already worked as a writer, arranger and session musician with a staggering range of musical luminaries from several generations and genres, including the expansive orchestral pop band Kan Wakan, roots-rockers honeyhoney, torch singer Nicole Atkins, rock producer Rob Laufer and late Big Star singer Alex Chilton, whose final studio performance can be heard on her debut EP, The Ditty Sessions.
Recorded with an all-star backing band at the home studio of beloved New Orleans band Galactic, the album’s standout track “Drunk Rich People” was featured on NBC’s prime time hit Parenthood. The cabaret-style song, about a miserable mixture of love, money and alcohol, exemplifies Black’s uncommon point of view as a songwriter and storyteller. She loves to delve into oddly emotional subjects, not just love and loss, but death and disaster, addiction and adultery, obsession and Instagram, crushes and Christmas, sometimes in those exact combinations. Her classic-sounding holiday song, “When I Think of Christmas,” addresses the difficulties of getting through December with heartbreak looming large, her cinematic seasonal single “Summer’s Over” tells the story of a short lived seaside love affair (with a suicide twist) and her latest release, the epic harp requiem “Alvarado,” presents the true story of a fatal street shooting in her Los Angeles neighborhood.
Black has played her bewitching music live at clubs in Los Angeles and NYC as well as major festivals like Bonnaroo. She performs regularly around Los Angeles on harp, piano and baritone ukulele as a solo act.
