There is a sense of sorrow in London artist great area’s latest EP, light decline, but the consonance of her melodies belies the words she sings. Live, her performances express the somber alienation of the city dweller. During her set at Nina HQ in December 2023, she stood alone in front of projections of buildings while singing lyrics with a clever dismissiveness: “So many individuals / So very individual.” She is currently on the tail end of a two-month stay in the US—she opened for bar italia on their recent US tour, and is now playing a handful of dates with Lolina. We reached out to her via email while she was on the road, and her unedited responses are below. light decline is out now on Lolina’s Relaxin Records.