Nite Jewel

Born out of personal loss, the tradition of lament, and a Moog sequencer, Nite Jewel’s No Sun is a feat of unguarded electronic music. The album is grounded in Gonzalez’s electronic oeuvre and academic research, but is also a sonic expulsion of pain.

In 2018, Gonzalez’s twelve year marriage dissolved. This left her alone and displaced, drifting from friend’s couch to friend’s couch. At the same time, she began her PhD in Musicology at UCLA. Gonzalez’s research on women’s musical lament practices formed a historical backbone for what became No Sun. Dating back to ancient Greece, the lament has utilized female voices as a vehicle for expressing communal and personal grief. In her research, Gonzalez considers this tradition within the context of contemporary pop divas, asking the question “What does it mean to be a professional mourner?” or to be a woman hired as an emotional vessel for a historically male composer? Gonzalez’s research considers the creative power of such singers, arguing that while often seen as visceral performers alone, these women are agents in their own right.