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While we would never judge, we can safely say Nessa Barrett is now a primadonna, particularly a dark and broodingly one. On her latest release, Jesus love a primadonna, you can add us along with the holy son to those that appreciate this edgy, emotional more commanding sound, a pivot from painless pop, a reveal of quality that had us engrossed. Wanting to know where this sound came from, and the confidence it projects on the record, we reached out via the Zoom box to dig into cats, finding your voice and much more:

OnesToWatch: Usually my first question is, “who is Nessa Barrett,” but we’ve literally done a whole video answering that question. So I guess my next question would be, how are you doing? 

Nessa Barrett: I'm doing great. I’ve just been living in LA making music, hanging with my cat. 

What's the cat's name? 


Kitty. Yeah, you stretched that.
You went way out there with that one. Given we've adored your music for some time now, I'd love it if I could ask a few questions about where you think you are in terms of your artist's journey and what you've learned. What's something you look back on already and go, “I wish I had done more of that or less of this?” 

Over the last year, I've really become more confident in who I am as an artist and songwriter. When I look back on the very first year of me starting in this industry and starting to make music, I think I really trusted and relied on other people and a lot of my collaborators and didn't believe in myself. But after six years, I’ve really found who I am and I really trust my abilities.

Well, I love that for you. What changed? 


I think what really changed is that I got in a room with two amazing producers that make me feel comfortable and confident in who I am. They're down for anything. I could throw out the craziest ideas and they're just so passionate. I have such a comfortable environment and I think that's what’s really helped me break out of my shell, trust all of my ideas and just be open and honest and in the room. I used to be in a room with three writers, trying to write one song, but now I'm in a place where I write half of my songs at home on my piano and then I bring them in and we work off of ideas that I create alone. I could come in with a song inspo that is just so wild and no one would think that I would enjoy it, but lately it’s really about experimenting. I think being called weird is the highest compliment, you know? 

Definitely.
Let's jump into “Jesus loves a primadonna.” Can you confirm that? 

Well, Jesus loves everyone. Therefore, must love a primadonna. Even on my bad days, Jesus still loves me even when I'm hard to love or hard to work with. And right now, I am feeling pretty loved by God, by Jesus, because I've had a lot of luck recently. 

Can I ask, is the primadonna self referential? Are you saying you're a primadonna? 

I'm a primadonna, you're a primadonna. Anyone that listens to this EP and is kind of like, yeah, fuck yeah, that's me too. 

What does a primadonna mean to you? 

I think it's just kind of a badass. You know who you are.

Let's go into your process specifically for this EP. 
You mentioned a lot of changes in confidence building, in your songwriting, in different sources of sort of inspiration. What was the genesis of this project and how is it different from your prior work? 


I started writing this project while I was on tour touring Aftercare. I loved Aftercare so much, and I had so many amazing songs, but I think while I was on stage performing it every night, I realized that I didn't really feel as connected to my core with the songs. I didn't really want to be super provocative and run around the stage – I'm not really high energy. So I really wanted to make music where I felt it was me to the core. On tour, before I would go on stage, I was always listening to Portishead and Massive Attack to get ready. So I thought, why don't I just make music that I love and music that feels the most like me? For this project, I wanted to not have any expectations. I wanted to make things in real time that I felt I was compelled to make. I would feel things out as I went. I would just do things and then think, okay, does this feel right?
And it was a yes or no, which made things super easy, because I wasn’t basing my feelings off of whether something was radio-worthy or trendy or would make people like me. I didn’t really care if people liked this project. Of course, I want them to, but I really wanted to make these songs for me. Just to go back to my core and make music that makes me remember why I love music. 

That's beautiful. It makes sense now why I like this project so much because I'm a huge, Massive Attack and Portishead fan. How many songs were candidates for this EP and how did you narrow them down? 

Oh, my God, I probably had 11 songs? 

So what made you cut those three or four songs? 

I actually was supposed to be writing my third album. And then Warner suggested I drop an EP… so I had to pick 8 songs for that. And I just picked the eight ones that I liked. And honestly, I really only had eight songs. Now I have to start writing my album from scratch. 

By the way, is that Kitty on the cover of the EP? 


Oh, my God, no. Kitty’s probably so jealous.

Poor Kitty. Given this is a little bit of a different project for you, and it sounds like it's bridging to your next record. What do you personally hope for? Do you have any ambitions for it or is it really just more about experimenting and finding your voice and all the things we've talked about? 


Yeah, it really was all about experimenting and it made me fall in love again with music and why I did this. It gives my fans a little taste of this new sound and who I am. It seems like they are loving it, which is good, because sometimes when you do new things, it's hard for your fans to adapt to it. I guess it's a little test, but no, this project really was just for me to see what I could do.

That’s great. Going to pivot to some more fun questions.
If you could put yourself in the most zen place and state, where would you be? What would you be doing?

Maybe on a beach listening to music in the sun somewhere. Clear water. Unfortunately, I have not done much traveling, so I don’t know exactly where. 

Well, you beg the next question, which is, what's a place you've never been that you really want to go? 


Ooh, I really want to go to the Maldives but I think I'd be too scared to get on those tiny planes. 

Next question is a little bit of zen, but with food. You need a comfort meal. Is there a meal you whip up for yourself that just makes you feel safe and at home? 


Pizza. I love pizza. 

Do you make it yourself? 
Is there a place that's like your favorite pizza? 

I could make it myself. Or I could be super lazy and get Domino's. We’re actually in New York right now and I made everyone go straight to a 99 cent pizza place as soon as we landed. I love pizza. 


Well, the New York slice is classic. Last couple of questions. One, I would love a non-music recommendation.
It can be an activity, a workout, something to read, something to watch, and then you can probably guess that the follow-up will be a music recommendation, something you're listening to that you really like. So let’s start with a non-music recommendation. 

I love reading. I love books. I just read The Knight and the Moth. And then I also read this book in a trilogy, but the first two books are really crazy. It’s called Loving the Tormentor. That's something that you don’t read in public. 

Copy. How about a music recommendation? 

All I do to listen to is Portishead and Massive Attack. I've been listening to Scorn recently rather than Glory Box. Which is kind of fun. I think it's so cool that they remixed their own songs. Also, The Sticks by Mother and Mother, I have been listening to that a lot. A lot of Pink Floyd, too. 

Oh, wow. Were you always a fan or is that something new? 

No, something new. And, oh, Alice in Chains. I've been really just inspired by the classics and the oldies. It's all I've been listening to recently. 

Amazing. And then lastly, I just want to end on your words. So anything you want to shout out, some advice, affirmations, your words. 

I think maybe just spread more love. There's so much hate in the world right now, and it's so important to just fill the world with some kindness and some love. It's so important. I feel like that's all we have. 

That is important. Well, thank you so much for your time. 

Thank you so much.