Community Picks is a weekly series where artists submit a release to be voted on by members of the Nina community. Once a week, the release with the most votes will receive editorial coverage. This week’s winner is LOVE's Final Ballet by the Ukrainian artist Triš. The release is anchored by a luscious, spectral 2-step track. It also features two great remixes—by Nastya Vogan and Special Guest DJ—that take the song in divergent directions. We sent over some questions to Triš, read the interview and listen to the LOVE's Final Ballet below.

Where are you from?

Triš: I am Triš and I am from Kyiv, Ukraine.

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

My music blends elements of experimental electronics, trip hop, and art pop. In my upcoming album, which will be out on February 28th via the Kontext label, you’ll find plenty of broken rhythms and vocals in both Ukrainian and English.

Tell us about your release on Nina.

The release on Nina is an original single from the album, along with remixes by my friends. I wrote this song after coming home from a job I hated, working in a grim, old Berlin bakery. I just sat there, singing into the mic as if I were trying to soothe myself—“I just wanna say everything will be okay.” And that’s how the song was born. Later I started playing around with the lyrics, and the chorus emerged: ”Tears blurred away / Love‘s final ballet,” reminding me that everything is temporary, even bad stuff.

What kind of tools do you use to make music?

I use a DAW and various plugins, and for “LOVE‘s Final Ballet,” almost all the vocal tracks were recorded using my laptop’s built-in microphone. I also sometimes choose not to re-record some parts of voice with a better microphone because I capture an emotion I couldn’t recreate later. So, the emotional aspect is very important to me—I try not to follow the rules and take things too seriously. Instead, I focus on expressing my pain and my love as truthfully as I can. Sometimes, it needs to sound raw and weird to stay real.

Who are three independent artists you think people should check out? 

Yana Pavlova was a Ukrainian vocalist and curator from Kyiv. I highly recommend listening to her album Blue in collaboration with Pavel Milyakov—it’s an absolutely beautiful record. She passed away recently, and she was incredibly talented. I really want more people to hear her songs. Bryozone (Ganna Bryzhata)—a Ukrainian musician and vocalist from Odesa. I adore her latest album Eye Of Delirious. Ihor Okuniev—a Ukrainian artist from Kyiv. Due to the war, he is currently working mainly as a soldier and volunteer, but is still creating art and music. His album Roots is available everywhere - it’s a very beautiful ambient record full of raw emotion.