Tsunaina

Tsunaina
File:Tsunaina live performance 2023.jpg Tsunaina performing live in London 2023
Born	Kowloon, Hong Kong
Alma mater	SOAS, University of the Arts London
Occupations	Singer-songwriter Model
Years active	2017–present
Website	tsunaina.com

Tsunaina (Nepali pronunciation: [(t)suːˈnʌɪːna]) is a British–Nepali singer-songwriter, visual artist, and fashion model. She is known for her emotionally evocative music and "hauntingly powerful" voice, alongside her distinctive features and visual style. In 2020, she released her debut single "Waterways", followed by "UnEarth", "Fanned Out Fingers" and "A Dam on the Eve of Breaking". Tsunaina has also created music for Iris van Herpen, McQ, and Robert Wun.

Early life

Tsunaina was born in Kowloon. Tsunaina also has a younger brother. She grew up in Lalitpur, Nepal, and spent her childhood there until moving to Kent, England, to join her family. At age 18, Tsunaina moved to London to attend SOAS University, where she studied History and Politics; she later studied Sound art at University of the Arts London, where she would begin to write for other artists and meet a number of future collaborators.

Tsunaina was raised by her mother who is a Limbu, Yakthung (ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱ), a Tibeto-Burman indigenous tribe of the Himalayan region of eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and western Bhutan. She is fluent in Nepali, English, and Hindi.

Career

After being scouted for modelling, Tsunaina initially gained recognition for her visual storytelling on Instagram and as the muse of Pat McGrath. Shortly after gracing the cover of Harper's Bazaar, she went on to be shot by Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker, Zhong Lin, and Frank Lebon. Tsunaina has also appeared in numerous notable publications such as British Vogue, Vogue Italia, W Magazine, Dazed, I-D, Paper Magazine, System, and Numero France.

In 2020 she released her debut single "Waterways", accompanied by a music video of her performing a live arrangement version in a waterfall. This was followed by "UnEarth", "A Dam on the Eve of Breaking", and in 2021, she released "Fanned Out Fingers". co-composed and co-produced by Bon Music Vision

Tsunaina has created music for Iris van Herpen Haute couture FW21 "Earthrise", McQ 2021 "Breathe", and Robert Wun Haute couture SS23 "Fear"; she also performed live to open for London designer, Asai Tai, SS23 during London Fashion Week.

Artistry

Musical style and influences

Tsunaina's music merges electronic and orchestral sounds with her distinctive soulful vocals. Described as "hauntingly powerful" and "serenely neoclassical", her style draws on a variety of genres, from electronic music, trip hop, classical music, avant-garde, and gospel.

She has noted she listens to "everything, anything when I feel like it". Tsunaina cites her mother and her brother as her biggest inspirations. Notably, Tsunaina describes coming to England as a re-education in sound, discovering Western artists properly for the first time. She has named electronic and trip hop acts, Tricky, Cocteau Twins, and Goldfrapp, alongside strong non-conformist female artists such as Nina Simone, Bjork, and Kate Bush, as major influences; later, discovering more experimental works of Arthur Russell, Iannis Xenakis, and Kenji Kawai.

Tsunaina also cites film soundtracks, and Bollywood in particular, as a formational influence, alongside folk music. Tsunaina's earliest musical memory is singing “Ajeeb dastan hei ye” with her cousin. She has also stated that "there is definitely a fantastical, maybe magical realism, element to what hits me and what I want to make…I imagine from all the folk stories, mythology, and video games and films that made me".

In 2021 I-D named Tsunaina as one of the "12 new musicians making the UK sound awesome".