KIIRA

For KIIRA, the act of songwriting itself is almost more important than the end result, a cathartic experience that has been a key part of her healing journey. Born in Paris and raised in Zurich, the 25-year-old Swiss-American songwriter and vocalist has dedicated years to honing her craft and to letting the truth shine through her work. I sat down with her to chat about her background and her latest single, “Colors.”

Growing up, KIIRA was drawn to art classes and anything that allowed her to create and express herself. She muses on how much she liked creating collages, curating and pasting together bits and pieces to make something completely new and greater than its parts. Above all, though, she was inspired by music. Like most musically inclined, she lives her life with a constant soundtrack, which often includes her favorite song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros turned up in the shower, in the car, in the airport and really anywhere. “It is the ultimate feel-good song. It’s on every single one of my playlists.”

Her first memories of music can be traced back to her mom playing Norah Jones in the kitchen while cooking or picking her up from school. Norah Jones was the first artist she “fell in love with,” her music carrying an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and comfort.

Singing always felt natural for KIIRA — although she was painfully shy about it, making her friends at school listen to her one by one with their backs turned for maximum privacy. And, like a lot of us who grew up in the age of Photobooth, she has “laptops and laptops filled with [her] karaoke covers of songs from YouTube.” She would be home alone, hairbrush or remote in hand as a microphone, belting out “Rolling in the Deep” like nobody’s business.

However, it hadn’t crossed her mind to write and release music of her own until she was well into college. While studying at the Eugene Lang College at Parsons in New York, she would come home each night to her keyboard to write songs. “Eventually, I was like ‘what am I doing? This is my passion.’ I had never even really thought about it as a possibility, but it had always been a part of me.”

She took a semester off of school to begin writing music in LA and never looked back. In a moment of serendipity, it was actually her Airbnb hosts in LA that helped her get started on her music career in earnest. “I was playing on my keyboard one night, and it was kind of late, and the woman that lived in the house knocked on my door. I was like ‘Shit, she’s gonna be so mad at me that I woke her up!’. She goes, ‘you have such a beautiful voice, would you mind playing for my husband and I?’ “

Her hosts introduced her to who would eventually be her producer, and from there KIIRA began her journey. “It all happened in the most natural, unexpected way. When you’re doing something that makes you happy, things just have a magical way of falling into place.”

Making art is therapy for KIIRA. She pours her heart out onto the page, and the act of songwriting itself has been a path to healing for her. “Colors” in particular has been about her mental health journey. “Over the past few years I struggled quite a bit mentally, and I’ve been in therapy and doing a lot of inner work on myself. This song is about how I finally see my life in color now.” 

KIIRA believes perspective is everything, and in “Colors” she is stepping into the light to view her life more vividly than ever before. She writes “I see colors / every time I close my eyes / I see colors / I used to dream black and white.”

“Whenever I listen to [the song] I get goosebumps, ‘cause it just reminds me of where I am and where I came from, and all the work I’ve done for myself and just being in a better place, content with myself and in my skin.”

However, this path to vulnerability wasn’t easy. KIIRA still finds it a little daunting to be completely honest and real when writing with a co-writer and producer in the room. “It’s literally like open heart surgery. It’s hard to do … but it’s a release of things I need to let go or get off my chest, and it’s quite beautiful.”

She often shares her journals with lyrics on her Instagram and Tiktok, allowing viewers to really analyze and resonate with her writing. “I have so many journals, I always have a journal in my bag. Whenever a thought arises, I’ll write it down. A song almost always starts with a small note that I’ve written down.”

Her favorite lyric is one of the many wisdoms she’s learned about personal growth: “Just like a growing flower / Healing takes time / And once the storm has passed / It paints the prettiest sky.”

She hopes that by sharing her experiences, she can help others who are feeling the same way. “I feel like there are so many people that aren’t aware of how good their life could be if they just had a different way of looking at things … Sometimes people will reach out to me and message me like ‘this song really helped me’, and that to me is the most rewarding thing. That’s where I get the happiness from. Even if it’s one or two people, it’s just so special.”

In reflecting back on her own experiences in music, her advice to others is to try. “Everybody starts from somewhere, and it’s just practice. Trying to write a song, even just putting a few words down. Trying to create a piece of art — it’s huge. You can only fail if you don’t try.” Where would she be now if she didn’t take the chance? She doesn’t know, but she’s grateful she did. 

The next few months are exciting ones for KIIRA — she’s having her first live performances since the COVID-19 pandemic in LA in the next few months, and is currently in rehearsals. More excited than nervous, she is ready to meet fans and hit the stage with a whole new mindset. She’ll also be releasing more music early next year. For now, you can listen to “Colors” and keep up with KIIRA on Instagram and TikTok.