The Moscow artist Ekaterina Shilonosova aka Kate NV’s music is located somewhere between bubblegum pop, new wave, and art rock. Her singing is guileless, her instrumentation a lavish collage of bass, xylophone, flute, synthesizer, saxophone, and much more, as one can her on her third album Room for the Moon (2020). Like its predecessor для FOR (2018), it was released on the New York-based label RVNG Intl.

Her latest album only emphasizes Shilonosova’s affinity with Japanese pop culture: on the one hand, the ten songs feel like an homage to techno-pop acts like Yellow Magic Orchestra, Anna Domino, and Hikashu; on the other, and more importantly, the accompanying videos exhibit a scenic language that would not be out of place in eighties Japan.

Not that Shilosonosa tries to hide this influence. One of the tracks on her current album is titled “Sayonara” …and on “Lu Na” her colleague Nami Soto takes over singing duties, happily warbling away the lyrics; in Japanese, of course. The Russian artist also said the following in a recent interview: “When I listen to Japanese music, I feel at home.” And in another interview she pointed to the anime series Sailer Moonas one of her biggest inspirations.

For zweikommasieben, Shilonosova contributed a number of drawings—and, unsurprisingly, they are clearly influenced by a manga aesthetic. The drawings appear to be character studies from her music videos, thereby offering another opportunity to delve into the wonderful world of Kate NV. If you have ever taken this plunge, you’ll soon realize, it’s not that easy to find your way back out.

This artist contribution was originally published in issue #22.

You can purchase a copy here (if it is not sold out).