The Crocodile Presents:
Luna Li

Luna Li is more than a musical project. It’s a world unto itself, and a kingdom of its creator’s making. For the Korean-Canadian, Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist songwriter, composer, and producer Hannah Bussiere Kim, the universe of Luna Li is hyperlush and inclusive by design. It’s an evolving, musical transmission that takes its cues from nature’s healing properties to explore vulnerability and identity. A blend of indie rock and psych; where experimental neoclassical morphs into pristine pop, Luna Li is the sound of an everyday symphony, crafted from the perspective of the female gaze.

 

When the pandemic started, Li started self-recording instrumental interludes as a radical form of care. By letting others into spontaneous moments of creation, she made her process transparent and communal. Her self-recorded “jams” — video snippets of her constructing beats piecemeal — went viral many times over, racking up over 8 million streams and producing a fiercely loyal following. Its resulting self-titled EP garnered widespread acclaim (“Why aren't people queuing up to buy beats from this person?," asked The Needle Drop's Anthony Fantano.) and led to coverage in Fashion, Paper Magazine, i-D and a slot opening for Japanese Breakfast. In 2021 Li performed on the main stage of 88rising's “Head In The Clouds” festival, and in 2022 was selected as one of NME’s Top 100 Emerging Artists.

 

Luna Li is more than a musical project. It's a world unto itself, and a kingdom of its creator's making. For the Korean-Canadian, Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist songwriter, composer, and producer Hannah Bussiere Kim, the universe of Luna Li is hyperlush and inclusive by design. It's an evolving, musical transmission that takes its cues from nature's healing properties to explore vulnerability and identity. A blend of indie rock and psych; where experimental neoclassical morphs into pristine pop, Luna Li is the sound of an everyday symphony, crafted from the perspective of the female gaze.

When the pandemic started, Li started self-recording instrumental interludes as a radical form of care. By letting others into spontaneous moments of creation, she made her process transparent and communal. Her self-recorded "jams" — video snippets of her constructing beats piecemeal — went viral many times over, racking up over 8 million streams and producing a fiercely loyal following. Its resulting self-titled EP garnered widespread acclaim ("Why aren't people queuing up to buy beats from this person?," asked The Needle Drop's Anthony Fantano.) and led to coverage in Fashion, Paper Magazine, i-D and a slot opening for Japanese Breakfast. In 2021 Li performed on the main stage of 88rising's "Head In The Clouds" festival, and in 2022 was selected as one of NME's Top 100 Emerging Artists.

Luna Li's debut record Duality (featuring Jay Som, Dreamer Isioma, and beabadoobee) wrestles intimate, otherworldly questions to the ground in order to better understand the collective. Capable of both detonating an incendiary riff, or slipping into the splendor of celestial strings, the album's power lies in its most delicate moments. "Each song on the album has some element of light and dark," Luna Li says. "Where there's happiness there's still uncertainty; where there's anxiety there's also beauty; and where there's tension there's freedom."

When creating her debut project, 20-year-old singer/songwriter Niko Rubio found a never-ending muse in the Pacific Coast Highway: the iconic stretch of road that runs along the ocean for nearly the entire length of California, including the Southern California South Bay area where she grew up. Expansive and euphoric, Niko's radiant form of songwriting perfectly echoes the pure sense of possibility that accompanies driving down the PCH. Drawing inspiration from the collage of artists she's come to admire throughout her life including Vampire Weekend, Lana Del Rey, Erykah Badu & twenty one pilots, as well as the mariachi & banda music her grandparents played at home, Niko's music is an amalgamation of these influences, but unique in its effervescent melodies and unpredictable textures. Using cinematically detailed references and her effortlessly untamed vocals, Niko is ready to take those who listen to her debut single, "You Could Be The One," and forthcoming EP on a sonic road trip along the highway where they became a possibility.