Niia's Haunting New Video for Club-Jazz Anthem, "Pianos and Great Danes"
- Crucial Rhythm
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
Today, LA-based vocalist, pianist, and composer Niia released the haunting new video for “Pianos and Great Danes,” from her genre-defying fifth studio album V (October 10 via Candid Records). Reinforcing her reign as the ultimate goth jazz princess, the 3-minute-long music video is a masterpiece of haunting cinematography featuring flashing, grainy edits mirroring uninhibited desires. The club-jazz anthem explores sex as an escape with an irresistible drum'n'bass groove.
“The memory of how this came together is blurry,” shares Niia. “Somewhere between a joke and a vision — “sexy demon” got said, and everything after that was impulse. A crossbow. An empty building. A piano. A Great Dane. Just friends following whatever felt right. No plan, just instinct and collaboration.”
Bridging the gap between traditional nostalgia and the complexities of modern emotional life, the surreal song is “closer to a film score than anything from the Great American Songbook,” she continues. “Written like a monologue with chord changes, it leans into space and narrative, letting the harmony suggest the emotional shifts. Embracing emotional residue, there’s a chaotic feeling where the only way out is to melt through the track.” A sharp, soulful exploration of desire, heartbreak, and freedom, V is a culmination of years spent experimenting at the intersection of tradition and reinvention. Co-produced by Spencer Zahn (Dawn Richard, Empress Of) and Lawrence Rothman (Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon, Kali Uchis). Living in the tension between control and collapse, the pivotal record seamlessly blends the electronic textures of experimental pop with the thrilling interplay that only live, jazz-rooted musicianship can bring. The arrangements stretch–sometimes restrained, sometimes theatrical–but always with intention.
As a classically trained musician who grew up watching Italian cinema, “I pulled from the harmonic language of jazz pianists like Bill Evans and from the psychological atmosphere of film scores,” explains Niia. That combined inspiration and influence is most evident in the songs “Angel Eyes,” a reimagined version of the 1946 jazz standard by Matt Dennis & Earl B. Brent, and “Ronny Cammareri,” a slow-burning instrumental titled after Nicolas Cage’s character in Moonstruck.
Niia’s most personal record yet, V explores the full spectrum of self: self-harm, self-delusion, self-awareness, and in rare moments, self-love. “Not in a moralizing way, but in a very human one,” she clarifies. “The good and bad live side by side, often in the same verse. One minute I’m performing heartbreak like it’s a role I’ve rehearsed, the next I’m quietly admitting I caused the whole thing. That contradiction is the truth.”
Balancing those heavy themes with Niia’s unapologetic sad girl humour, there are tracks like the provocative album opener “fucking happy,” accented by sarcasm layered over melancholy, that radiate relatability. A sly nod to Fiona Apple’s iconic “Criminal” video, watch the Lili Peper-directed video here. Also featuring emotional depth with a rebellious sonic palette is “Throw My Head Out The Window,” featuring new wave jazz boundary pushers bassist Anna Butterss and Nicole McCabe on saxophone. It is intentionally over-orchestrated with strings, dissonant piano, and a vocal teetering between aria and tantrum. Watch the minimalist video for the jazz-noir fever dream track here.
With a vision and mission to bridge the gap between control and collapse, the provocateur successfully brings that tension to life not only in her music, but in the album’s cover art as well, featuring Niia affixed with a heretic fork– an instrument of medieval torture reserved for those who spoke out against dogma and orthodoxy. Niia emphasizes, “If I’m going to make my statement in this genre, I need to be a disruptor.”
TRACKLIST:
fucking happy
Ronny Cammareri
Throw My Head Out The Window
I Found The Restaurant
with Feeling
Pianos and Great Danes
Again with Feeling
Dice
Maria in Blue
The Awful Truth
Angel Eyes
ABOUT NIIA:
Niia Bertino is a classically trained pianist and vocalist rooted in jazz who blends elegance with edge and a timeless voice, with razor-sharp songwriting. Her past work has received praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Interview Mag, and Harper’s Bazaar.
ABOUT CANDID RECORDS:
From 1960-1963, founder, A&R, and producer Nat Hentoff recorded over 30 extraordinary albums for the Candid Records label. One cannot underestimate the breadth of these recordings - from bebop to the avant-garde, to blues. Candid sat dormant for years until Black Lion Records founder and producer, Alan Bates, bought the label in 1989. The next phase of Candid Records is happening now. Since its relaunch in 2021 the label has reissued over 30 titles to high critical acclaim. Thanks to brilliant new releases, Candid has received four GRAMMY® awards – 2024 winners the Count Basie Orchestra, 2023 winners Terri Lyne Carrington and Wayne Shorter, and 2022 winner Eliane Elias. Today’s Candid is not only committed to its legacy but looks forward to defining its future with the quality music that is synonymous with its elite heritage. Learn more at www.candidrecords.com
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