Vana

About

Also known as: Vana_nz

Vana, the New Zealand based singer and songwriter who goes by Vana NZ, makes music that sits somewhere between dark pop, metalcore and alternative, blurring genre lines so thoroughly that putting a single label on her sound feels pointless. Her debut EP Die for Me! leaned into electronic grunge textures with soft vocals laid over them, exploring wild concept territory like sapphic vampire lovers and a woman stalking a man in a psychiatric ward. The follow up EP Trial and Terror pushed further, pulling in pop, metal and hip hop while featuring a collab with Sophie Powers on the track Playboi. Single releases like Clandestine and Beg! signalled a sharper metalcore edge, and the 2024 music videos for Serpentine and Disgusting show she has kept up a solid pace of new work. She cites Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens and Bring Me the Horizon as touchstones, and that influence tracks through the heavy riffs and emotionally charged themes around LGBTQ identity, mental health and religion that run through her catalogue.