NYC Scene Report – Gabrielle Marlena, Raveena, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Gabrielle Marlena dealing with the wrong kind of love, Raveena feeling “Stronger,” The Ritualists picking an “Ice Flower,” and Verdigrls making Small Moves.

* When it comes to love, and relationships, who among us hasn’t wanted the wrong person? NYC-based singer-songwriter Gabrielle Marlena’s latest single, “Anyway,” is all about those unhealthy longings we all experience at some point in life.

In a statement, Marlena explained the events that led up to the writing of “Anyway,” saying, “When I wrote this song, I was so emotionally exhausted from dating, and finding men that didn’t fit right, and I was so angry that it kept not working out. In the end, I was recognizing my own tendency to settle for anything that felt good enough to fill that void.”

Marlena added that when it came to one ex in particular, “This guy treated me like actual dirt, and I hated most things about him, but I was still so jealous and hurt when he found someone who he was ‘more compatible with,’ in his own words. The line ‘I want it anyway’ didn’t actually come to me until I was in the studio. It’s about how even the worst kind of attention is so addictive. I can’t wait to give all the people stuck dating out there an anthem to cry to when they’re texting the wrong person at 4am.”

“Anyway” is off Marlena’s upcoming EP, Manners, which is due out June 28th, and you can give the song a listen right here.


* NYC-based songstress Raveena is feeling “Stronger.” “Stronger” being the name of the latest single off her debut album, Lucid, which was released last month.

In a statement, she explained her personal ethos, which clearly plays a role in her music, saying, “You can be soft and full of power and full of strength. You can go through things that tend to really harden people, but that doesn't take away from those beautiful, vulnerable, creative parts of yourself. Those can still be alive and growing.”

Raveena wrote “Stronger” while using psychedelics, but the only trip you’ll be taking when you give it a listen is a smooth one.

Click play, and check out the beautiful strength of Raveena.


* NYC-based dark psychedelia rockers The Ritualists have been paying their dues in the scene for a number of years, and come August 2nd their hard work is going to culminate in the release of their full length debut, Pained People (via Out of Line Music).

The lead single off the album is “Ice Flower,” which has a timeless feel to it, as it could just as easily have been a hit in the ‘80s or ‘90s, yet still sounds completely fresh in 2019.

Whichever subgenre of rock you’re into, you’ll find something to connect with when you click play on “Ice Flower,” and if you’re anything like me, you’ll immediately want to hear more from The Ritualists.


* Verdigrls (not to be confused with Verde Girls, which would be young women who are green) are the classically trained sister duo of Anna and Catherine Wolk, and while the title of their latest EP is Small Moves (out now on Substitute Scene Records), the NYC-based sisters are well on their way to making plenty of big moves.

The self-described “sad girl electro chamber pop” duo recently released the title track of Small Moves as a single, and they explained the song in a statement, saying, “‘Small Moves’ is about the disorientation you feel at the end of the night when everything seems separate from you. Everyone appears to be having fun, and you just feel empty.”

They added that when it comes to the music of “Small Moves,” “We played with unorthodox ways of using the cello bow, and included pedals to capture the strangeness of drunken late night fogginess.”

Hey, who can’t relate to that?


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.