Fighting Polished with Purity: How Analise Weaves Transparency into Her Music
New singer/songwriter Analise puts authenticity at the forefront of her music career by building from the ground up and prioritizing humans first.
Analise and her band performed at Breaking Sound NYC at Brooklyn Music Kitchen on October 22, 2024. Photo by Laura Riggle.
Analise, an emerging alternative artist and songwriter, steps onto the Brooklyn Music Kitchen stage with her band. She’s shrouded in red lights, complimenting the plaid jumper and red tights she’s wearing. The collective breath of the audience stands still as the band begins to play.
Analise unravels story after story, leading the audience through her setlist, which was just a fragment of her discography.. Analise scans the crowd with a curious gaze, confiding her secrets to the audience as she sings, “I feel ugly when you say you love me, rather be quiet.” She circles the stage throughout the performance, tethered between the audience and her band, as she gives a piece of herself to every person in the room.
The band had this intoxicating electricity, moving freely on stage and feeding off each other’s physicality. Before the first song was over, Analise’s ballet flats were off as she danced, comfortable on stage like she had been there before. Analise and her band exuded authenticity that influenced the audience to connect like the band does on stage.
Origin
Growing up on the New Hampshire Seacoast, Analise was surrounded by the performing arts, which kickstarted her passion for music. Her journey began with musical theatre, which led to an exposure to people of all ages.
“I was fortunate enough to be in things with adults when I was little.” Analise said. “So I’ve always been thinking ahead. Because for me, it’s never been a toggle of what I wanted to do. I always knew.”
While musical theatre wasn’t hard for her to find in New Hampshire, songwriting was a different story. Analise taught herself how to play piano, and by the age of 10 she had gotten the hang of it. So, she immediately started writing music.
Her inspiration for songwriting came from the world around her. “I have two older sisters that for my whole life I just sat back and watched,” Analise said. “I would take notes of them and their friends and their boyfriends. I would internalize that, and I would think about it, like it was my own.”
When she arrived at Berklee College of Music in Boston as a songwriting major in 2022, she was immersed into a campus where there were people like her in an industry hub where she could flourish.
“There was nobody in high school that I could jam with.” Analise said. “And then I was in a place where you could turn around and the barista on campus could play with you just as well.”
Musical theatre is still a part of Analise’s career, and the stage is where her two worlds can collide.
“With the stuff that the band and I are trying to do, I want it to be performative, and I want it to be intentional.” Analise said. “I don’t want us to just play our songs live, I want us to play live music.”
Analise and her band performing at Exit Galleries in Boston on October 19, 2024. Photo by Analise.
Meeting the Band
Analise took an observant approach when she went to form her team, and she wanted to find a community before she found instrumentalists.
“I wanted to create a family that is solid enough to go on tour with when we graduate.” Analise said. “So that if we get the call that we got an opening slot for this touring band, we will just go. It had to be that.”
Guy Malka, the bassist, Sebastian Stinnett, the guitarist, and Colin Curcio, the drummer, all met Analise within the first week of freshman year.
“When we first got to school, a lot of people would have jam sessions with random people.” Analise said. “They weren’t even playing actual songs, they would just come up with things, call and response. I would go and just hang out, and they were always there.”
In the spring of 2024, Analise and her band started recording in Curcio’s apartment.
“I kept hearing this synth sound coming from across the hall, and I was like, ‘What is that?’” Analise said.
It was Curcio’s roommate, Marlon Edlin, a guitarist and keyboardist that Analise met at their first show in the fall.
“So I asked if I could listen,” she said. “I took a guitar and I played one of my songs and he added synth to it. And I was like, ‘That needs to happen.’”
Analise and her band performed at MIT in Boston on April 12 2024. Photo by Analise.
After Edlin joined the team, the band was complete, and in early 2024, Shantel “Stax” Teixeira joined as Analise’s manager. They started as friends working at Berklee’s Career Center, and when Analise was in the final touches of building her team, she knew that Teixeira understood her vision.
Teixeira runs and operates a management firm called ROOTD to help underrepresented creatives claim their narrative and build their stories in the music industry. Analise being added to her roster was a seamless transition and a partnership that she was eager to start.
“Analise makes my job easy because she does so much of it.” Teixeira said. “It’s not necessarily helping her figure out how the dots connect, she’s already coming to me with the dots all connected, and now I just have to fill in the lines.”
The Music
The writing process has shifted since gaining a unit to work and play with, and while Analise still writes a majority of her songs on her own, she brings these songs to rehearsals to collaborate.
“I describe my music as fusing together the timelessness of indie/folk lyricism with a new kind of DIY lo-fi bedroom production style.” Analise said. “When it’s sonically this world that just takes you out of wherever you are, that’s where I’m trying to blend the two together.”
“She brings in a song that she has written and we hear her play it in the room,” Malka said. “And then I’ll come up with my own part until we all start playing something we like.”
Being self taught on guitar and piano, Analise uses experimental tactics to generate unorthodox yet distinctive textures to a song.
“It’s so special not knowing what you’re doing in the theoretical sense of music theory because through it, I find so many cool things that a guitarist wouldn’t think of.” Analise said. “When I bring things to the band, they’re like, ‘What time signature is this?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know, but we’re gonna learn it!’”
Analise playing her guitar on WNYU Radio in New York City on November 11th, 2024. Photo by @mayamphoto.
Analise’s lyrics hold relatable topics that people can resonate with. In her recent release, “Delicate”, she talks about the struggles of being vulnerable yet not losing yourself in the process.
“The line, ‘They say my skin isn’t delicate’ speaks to a tension I think many people can relate to,” Analise said. “The pressure to be strong, brave, and independent, while grappling with the reality that some people, in the best or worst ways, can melt you completely.”
The track of “Delicate” parallels the emotion of the song, and much of that comes from the collaboration from Analise’s band.
“It begins in a place of softness and vulnerability, gently pulling the listener in, before crescendoing into a powerful and dynamic chorus.” Analise said. “My bandmates and I poured ourselves into every note, adding unique, personal touches that made the recording process feel almost sacred.”
The Music Video
Much of what Analise puts out to the world is handcrafted and pieced together by Analise herself.
“When we were working at the Career Center, she would always have her laptop open, editing her music video for a project or working on a session for a song.” Teixeira said. “I saw that DIY centric approach that she has with her music very early on.”
A ritual part of releasing music for Analise is the music video, and as a visual artist, she mentally sees the production that goes with it. “I always sketch music videos.” Analise said. “It’s my favorite part of when I go to release a song, and I literally draw out all of the little shocks that I see in my brain.”
In the music video for “Delicate”, she recruited her friends to recreate the visions in her head. “We woke up at 4 A.M. one morning to get that sunrise, and my friend Ruby was driving the car and I was out the sunroof, and my friend Caitlin was filming.” Analise said. “I have these little angels everywhere where we all just connect perfectly at the perfect times. We give each other what we need when we need it.”
Analise in her music video, “Delicate” which was released on August 10, 2024. Photo by Analise.
Next Steps
Analise and her band had a rolling momentum over the past semester, taking opportunities as they came to them. She played doors for Omar Apollo in September, and in October, she opened for Infinity Song, with a multitude of gigs in between. “This semester has just been like performing boot camp,” Analise said. “And it felt like New York was at the end of the finish line the whole time.”
What keeps people coming back for Analise is her ineffable inner beauty. Her avidness to connect and relate to her audience is visible through her lyrics, her raw human emotion on stage, and her comfortability around her audience. “I don’t see a difference between Analise the artist and Analise the person.” Teixeira said. “Her goal when she hits the stage is to turn everyone in that room from stranger to friend.”
Analise and her band performed on WERS 88.9FM, Boston’s UnCommon Radio Station on October 14th, 2024. Photo by Analise.
Her band believes in her music too, and the artistry behind how they perform is that they work as a unit. “I think her energy on stage is something that directs the entire band. She really helps us tap into that really fun part of performing.” Malka said. “Especially in situations where the crowd isn’t 100%. We play to the room and we always give 100% percent, but it is a different 100%.”
For people looking for a musician who keeps honesty and integrity at the forefront of everything they do, Analise takes the cake. “We’re on the cusp of something very interesting in the industry right now, where people want more immersive experiences.” Teixeira said. “We’re seeing the art of storytelling coming back, and I think Analise fits right into that puzzle.”
