music
Riderless Horse (Temporary Residence Limited, 2022) marks Nina Nastasia’s return, twelve years after her sixth studio album, Outlaster (FatCat Records, 2010), all recorded by the wizard Steve Albini. Too long of a hiatus, which as a rule, in other artists, could be justified by the exploration of other artistic disciplines or by simple creative departure. This is not the case for the North American folk singer. The abusive relationship she had with Kennan Gudjonsson, her partner, manager, and creative partner, for 25 years, led her to distance herself not only from music but also from the world, her family, and friends, trying to hide the toxicity of the moment she was living and in which she had allowed herself to be swallowed up. In January 2020, in desperation, Nina left him. Gudjonsson committed suicide the next day. In a note accompanying the new album, Nina describes the moment as a kind of liberation. Riderless Horse is not just the return of a cult artist, adored by John Peel, who catapulted her into the limelight. Riderless Horse is an important and profound testimony, manifested through direct, raw, painfully naked songs of fear, and psychological, manipulative, and suffocating abuse, similar to so many other immense stories happening right now, all of which have a character of uniqueness – no story of a toxic relationship is the same.
At 56, Nina Nastasia sets out on a quest to reconcile with herself, using music to build a new phase in her life. Using intimacy in her songs to share what she went through, in an attempt to help and bring other women together – but also to talk about suicide and mental illness. Nina holds no grudges against Gudjonsson, remembering him fondly for all the good he did for her; only the bitter taste of having felt emotionally responsible for his departure when she found him dead in the studio they owned. Riderless Horse is not just an album – and one of the best of this 2022 – it is a lifebuoy from Nina to other Ninas.
