trust the psychics
trust the seers
make yourself a believer
split yourself in two

Trust can be a difficult state to achieve, especially when it’s learning to find it in yourself. With a strong heart and steady hand, NYSSA crosses this threshold into a new realm with Shake Me Where I’m Foolish.

take me away from this awful sadness
now i’m ready for the madness
initiate me! fellate me! free me!
feel me unleashed

Awash in joyful rage, lead track “The Initiate” blasts open the self and says no to concrete boredom, leading us straight into NYSSA’s “punk rock Narnia.” Its vibrant energy sets the stage for her trickster persona, invoking Bachus bravado and Blondie guitar lines, while her wildly free vocals call to all the suburban youth shut up in bedrooms and basements. It flows with fervour into “The Mystery,” a hot take on classic ‘70s and ‘80s radio rock, before barreling into the unfiltered fun of “Breakup Party.” Exploring magical iterations of oneself without the fear of judgement, these songs call to us in a way that’s impossible to ignore, like the voice in our head or a full moon.

who’s gonna be my new lover?
who’s gonna be my new best friend?
who’s gonna be my mirror?

With many more questions still left to ask, and answer, NYSSA shifts us from chaotic reverence to the soft kiss of “Blessèd Touch.” Rooted in domestic folklore, it’s a pagan gospel song, a moment of desperation before a transformation she knows is coming. It’s trusting the unknown.

When we get to the turning point, we find catharsis in “Werewolf,” a key piece in NYSSA’s journey through artistry and expression. It is a momentous reckoning that invites us to transform with her and to be open to her words. Within this powerful state, NYSSA reads out her pagan punk manifesto by firelight in “Good Kind of Bad,” welcoming us as we “come to the dark side,” infusing us with an energy strong enough to split atoms. Summoning her own elemental power, NYSSA cuts the apron strings and runs straight into the wild on “Death & Desire,” fuelled by the creative urge to make new things.

I can feel myself split
feel myself tear in two for you
no more mothers crying lonely tears
we’ve been away for all these years

Deep in the woods, somewhere within the aftermath, floating like fireflies on late night airwaves, “Creature 2 Creature” crawls and coos with psychedelic sensuality. Part Alice in Wonderland, part Rocky Horror Picture Show, it’s a song about not being able to express yourself, except at base level, and needing others nearby to come to that point with respect and acceptance. In this tender place, NYSSA reels and recounts family histories with “No More Bodies”, rattling us with melancholic magic and entrancing us in a dream state.

you know I haven’t always been a
woman I've sometimes been a man
I haven’t always waited tables
or made coffee for strangers
I've been an animal

As we catch our breath, a slow, cool tension builds in “My Gemini,” shifting us once more from state of mind to reformed state. With its allegorical imagery, we explore the heights and depths of self, searching for a community, for people who reflect us and our desires, finding wholeness and balance in fragments and chaos. As the song erupts into a fiery finish, we give in to its climactic conclusion. Like the final birthing push, “My Gemini” delivers another part of NYSSA, fully formed. Satisfied and spent, we unwind on some common corner in Alphabet City, listening to “The Hell I Raise” on a broken boombox.

I'm good for nothing but the hell I raise
I'm good for nothing but the hell I raise
I'm good for nothing but the hell I raise

Fuelled by histories, mysteries and cycles, Shake Me Where I’m Foolish is rich with characters and locales, both from this world and from NYSSA’s imagination. She draws from the outer realms and inner desires, from earth and nature, from CBGBs to The Roxy, from parts of herself she has yet to meet but knows are there. A reconnection with nature, of mythos with ethos, Shake Me Where I’m Foolish seeks new creatures to hold this space and form a community of misfits and outcasts, transporting us from Plato’s cave into NYSSA’s mystical garden.

THE HORIZON LINE PLAYLIST:
Listen to this week's Horizon Line playlist inspired by NYSSA's Shake Me Where I'm Foolish.