Calista Kazuko releases her new video for the song titled ‘Benzo Belle’. With a penchant for the theatric, Calista gives a cinematic performance to a song filled with a wonderfully grandiose sense of style and delivery with visuals that perfectly encapsulate the story within the track. This is cinema quality in scope and delivery. Masterful!
About ‘Benzo Belle’
Roll up, roll up – the circus has come to town and invite you into their weird and wonderful world! Calista plays ringmistress to tell the story of our heroine, ‘Benzo Belle’ and the circus her life has become. Depreciated in a loveless marriage, a monotonous carousel existence, delusional and exhausted, self-medicating to numb the pain. Will she escape this Stepford Wife life prison and live out her fantasies to run away with the circus?…
The heartbreaking ‘Benzo Belle’ is being placed album frontrunner for its sophisticated, emotional songwriting and cinematic, evocative production. The record cherishes an eerie, tongue-in-cheek tenderness similar to The Dresden Doll’s cult classic ‘Coin Operated Boy’ and is quickly becoming a fan favorite.
The stunning music video made by filmmaking duo Thomas Linton and Philip Reinking transports the viewer to an other-worldly fantastical bazaar. This unstoppable collaboration has become a tour de force, with ‘Benzo Belle’ being the latest offering from the ‘Empress’ visual collection. Praised for their visionary videos, this film is the biggest, boldest yet.
Calista’s recent single releases have garnered much love and support from fans and the media, premiering with Earmilk, championed by BBC Introducing London and featured in high-profile Spotify playlists including Acoustic/Alternative Heavy Hits and H&M, Zara and Pull&Bear in-stores.
About ‘Empress’
“Powerful women throughout history are massively sexualized, even objectified. Is it because history is written by men? Or were these Empresses using their female prowess to rule the world?”
Calista’s highly anticipated debut album ‘Empress’ considers the stories of women in history to form this fearless, cinematic tribute to womanhood, self-love, and empowerment. Co-produced by award-winning film composer Guy Dagul and recorded at London’s Rattle Studios, ‘Empress’ finds Calista continuing to modify the norms of modern songwriting with a characteristic mix of sensuality and sense of humor. Each track tells a story about a different Empress, resulting in a stunning concept album that challenges complex themes while never losing its sense of fun: the song ‘Cake’, for instance, finds Marie Antoinette on Tinder!
For the past few months Calista has been sharing a series of themed releases from the album, noting: “Along with celebrating fierce, fabulous women, the ‘Empress’ album addresses hardships women are continuing to fight globally. Although we’ve come a long way, the struggle for equality continues.” Calista Kazuko
Accompanying releases are awareness-raising campaigns, working with leading partner charities to address themes including LGBTQ+ rights, period shame, prescription-drug dependency and domestic abuse.
The album is dedicated to Calista’s greatest influence and inspiration, her Father – the late, great violinist Paul Robertson and is coming out to celebrate his birthday.
About Calista Kazuko
High art, high class, high gloss, high drama – meet Calista Kazuko, the High Priestess of Pop Macabre. Hers is a femme-fatale fusion of sophistication, glamour and smart lyrical garrottes.
A singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for cinematic genre-bending and controversial boundary-pushing, Calista studied classical/jazz piano and composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and has since been performing and winning fans across the world with her dynamic voice and captivating songs. Following the success of the critically acclaimed ‘Project: Love Me’ EP, Calista is now preparing to release her highly anticipated debut solo album, ‘Empress’, out this autumn. She founded and launched charity-based arts collective Voice of Aiko in 2018 and is currently penning her first feature-length piece of music-theatre with playwright Stephanie Martin.
Having composed several international floor-fillers under pseudonyms, Calista’s impact in the world of music is matched in that of fashion, where Stella McCartney has used her tracks as catwalk openers and Parisian fashion house Jitrois actually named its couture ‘Callista’ jacket after her.
LINKS:
https://www.calistakazuko.com
https://www.youtube.com/CalistaKazuko
https://www.facebook.com/CalistaKazuko
https://www.twitter.com/CalistaKazuko
https://www.instagram.com/CalistaKazuko
https://www.soundcloud.com/CalistaKazuko
