Pop noir singer Luna (ЛУНА), which translates to “moon” in Russian. Her real name is Kristina Bardash, and she is a Ukrainian indie pop singer-songwriter, model and photographer in the past.
The 29-year-old pop star was once described as the face and sound of the Ukrainian musical revolution, and she’s lived up to her name. Since the release of her first album Magneti in 2016, Luna has captivated the minds of post-Soviet youth with her infectious, sometimes moody synth-pop and exuberant fashion choices. Unlike her lustrous mainstream-pop contemporaries, Luna’s music is glamorously heartbroken and quietly powerful, with hypnotic hooks, swooning, ethereal atmospherics and repetitive beats immersed in trance-like lullabies. Since 2016, Luna has released three albums, Mag-ni-ty, Ostrov Svobody, and the latest, Zakoldovanniye Sny, which came out earlier in 2018.
She was born on August 28, 1990 in the city of Dresden, East Germany in the family of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany serviceman. A few years later the family returned to Ukraine. Her music was praised by critics for the combination of electronic music with a melancholy mood, and also for references to ’90s pop culture..
She blew up in 2015 after uploading a few tunes on social media with self-directed lo-fi videos. The Kiev-based artist has since created three albums of understated, hypnotic electro pop. Composed on synth and electronically, the songs are artfully done and fit the melancholic vocals.
she has cultivated a sultry and sophisticated sound and her musical style has been praised for the combination of electronic music with a melancholy mood,Her style, according to an interview with Vogue, is inspired by early ’90s post-soviet pop, a time when the fall of the Iron Curtain was close and it meant a rapid, eager devouring of art Ukrainian had difficulty accessing for years. Luna, it seems, can’t understand why people let their guard down, and style and music in Russia and Ukraine became a bit lacklustre in many mainstream avenues. In referencing the stylish past, and being mindful of nurturing a better present, Luna’s hunger to change culture in a way she sees as better is admirable. A great pop star for future generations to reference.
In her new video for the title track from her Grustnyy Dens EP (“sad dance” ) Luna dances through the grand halls of Soviet library in Kiev. Dressed in white thigh-high boots and glittering trench coat, she looks more Joan of Arc than life and soul of the party. Her act is a mix of a tormented heart, detachment, and club-influenced synthy sounds. There is also something rough around the edges about her, something awkward, like a combination of high heels and white Fila track pants.
She collaborates with Kiev’s emerging fashion talents like Drag and Drop, Anton Belinskiy, Ksenia Schneider, Sasha Kanevski, casts kids from the Cat-b modeling agency for her videos, sings (half-ironically) about the adoration of a guy’s sneakers at a rave as a start of a love story.
Luna’s recent singles
- 2020 – “Fata Morgana”
- 2020 – “Летние бульвары” (Summer boulevards)
- 2020 – “Лебединая” (Swan song)
- 2021 – “Жанна Дарк” (Joan of Arc)
- 2021 – “Пташка” (Bird)
