If you are new to hip hop artist/R&B vocalist Anastasia Hera’s music, you will certainly be pleasantly surprised by the first 30 seconds of her new single/video Big Tuna. How she manages to open a song that has such a humorous title with art-nouveau soul vibes and a pensively sung “I’ll never comprehend,” followed by the sophisticated piano and then —- “I can never comprehend little ponds that I can swim/I’m infatuated with the lights/I belong in the pond where the whales get it on/Down deep on the floor waiting for my turn.”
A song that I felt certain from its title was going to be a tell-off to a conceited man she’s attracted to with the man in question being the “big tuna” turns out to be sea life as metaphor for her dreams of stardom. The big tuna is petite and sweet Ms. Hera, as she shares her confident pep talk to herself about her singing fame worthiness with the listener.
Although she may be a girl on fire, the video which is directed superbly by Ty On Da Track chose to avoid the special effects included in numerous well-known modern videos such as Girl on Fire and Carly Rae Jepson’s Now That I Found You. The Big Tuna video is all the better for this choice. Following Ms. Hera through a typical day pursuing her dreams, from cooking breakfast at home to working out to recording to auditioning, everything is credible and real without fantasy interruptions, underscoring that she is taking real life steps to achieve her musical goal. This realism balances out the humor of the song’s lyrical metaphors very well.
It is a fine testament to Anastasia Hera’s Hollywood charisma that she will likely keep the rapt attention of anyone who watches Big Tuna go through the grind of her unglamorous day. Think Ciara’s 2019 music video for I’ve Been Thinking About You in which Ciara prepares for a date. Ms. Hera is as beautiful as Ciara and as in possession of a comic streak, whether it’s Ms. Hera’s on-screen antics or her deliberately amusing vocal nuances on the occasional rapped lyrics.
Able to flow from her sweet singing to rap to back again with a natural ease, she also has excellent songwriting chops, an ability to conceptualize harmonies, and the fluency in soul music history. Big Tuna is one of six tunes on her new debut album, This Is Anastasia. It was recorded in Austin at Trak Majors Studios with Tim “T-Mo’ Moore and at Pleasantville with RJ Maine. Throughout the album are unexpected touches such as the creatively employed vocal reference (not a sample) to Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely in the indie pop flavored Clarity which speaks of a girl in the third position in a way that shows a definite Fleetwood Mac Rhiannon touch. Or the first track, Ceiling with its counterpoint harmonies and confectionary soul which might make “Ceiling” this year’s Boo’d Up.
On July 28, Geraldine’s will host the official record release party for the This Is Anastasia EP
(605 Davis St, Austin. Tickets available through OpenTable).