Nostalgia is about memories. A feeling of nostalgia and longing, both beautifully comforting and devastating. It is an attempt to transform an unspoken sensation of the past into a solid object serving the future, an urge to remember and hold onto moments that we can’t keep forever.
For Hania Rani the word ‘Nostalgia’ is heavy with meaning and interpretation. It embodies not only the the word itself, but also the sounds, images, smells and textures that we all connect with it. Nostalgia is a vast, swampy space that inhabits, rather than being inhabited. In her forthcoming live album Nostalgia, Rani presents both her music and her photos together for the first time.
This is Rani’s first ‘real’ live album, recorded in a place of deep personal and artistic significance: the Polish Radio studios in Warsaw. Through Nostalgia, Hania presents the studios in her own perspective, as somewhere unique and unknown. A place of work, but something more. A place of ghosts and hidden meanings, of inspiration and mystery. By juxtaposing her music with evocative analogue photographs of the studios, Rani provides a closer look at her artistic journey – from composing to performance and recording – all seen through her own eyes. For Rani, it is an experimental step – the first time she brings her sonic and visual worlds together in a combined presentation. Perhaps, the first tentative steps towards following the path of other artists who found a single medium limiting to their artistic expression.
On 6th October 2023, the release date of her third solo album Ghosts, Hania Rani organised a special album release concert with a string ensemble in a very unique location – Witold Lutosławski’s Concert
Studio at the Polish Radio in Warsaw.
“Over the years, the spaces of Polish Radio became an important part of my life – both privately and professionally. I visited it for the first time as a student of Chopin University of Music and came back to make my first recordings in late 2018, just before the release of the debut album ‘Esja’. Since then I have been a regular guest.”
The building is located in the Mokotów district in Warsaw and has served generations of musicians and sound engineers for decades. For Hania it is a home from home; a beloved recording studio but
something more important and resonant too. Nostalgia does more than just present a memorable concert; it celebrates a space and an idea through the mediums of photography and recorded sound.
Hania creates something profound and enlightening.
“Some months after this special concert in Studio S1 I came back to the chambers of Polish Radio. This time not as a musician, but as an observer. It was one of the coldest Mondays of January and Warsaw
was adorned with fresh, plush snow. The building seemed completely empty, so I was able to navigate freely with my camera from space to space without interruption. I relished each object and each room
waiting patiently to be consumed by a film roll. The obscure lighting was putting things in a subtle movement, the strong white beams were making them still again.”
Nostalgia is more than just a record; the deluxe LP comes with a 16-page booklet featuring Hania’s unique analogue photos, along with her thoughts on the recording process, studios, and the compositions themselves. The CD includes these photos in a beautifully glued-in 12-page booklet.
The music on Nostalgia was originally presented on Hania’s album Ghosts. Through these live versions, beautifully mixed by Greg Freeman in Berlin, the music takes on a new life. Hania’s ethereal vocals, beautiful playing and exhilarating compositions are brought fully to life by the stunning sweeping strings of the expanded ensemble. Featuring regular collaborator Ziemowit Klimek on double bass and moog, as well as a luxurious eight-piece string ensemble: Karolina Gutowska (violin), Jan Pietkiewicz (violin), Marta
Piórkowska (violin), Paweł Czarny (viola), Tomasz Rosiński (viola), Dobrawa Czocher (cello), MariannaSikorska (cello), and Mateusz Błaszczak (cello). The concert is included here in its entirety, with the
addition of one special extra performance – the title track Nostalgia. A beautiful interpretation of a much-loved piece from the Ghosts album, recorded during her concert at the Roundhouse in London.
Hania Rani Tour Dates
03/10/2024 Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles
04/10/2024 Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles
07/10/2024 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
08/10/2024 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
11/10/2024 Fox Theatre, Boulder
13/10/2024 Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis
14/10/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago
16/10/2024 Bronson Centre, Ottawa
17/10/2024 Impérial Bell, Quebec
19/10/2024 Warsaw, Brooklyn
20/10/2024 Union Transfer, Philadelphia
01/11/2024 Texas Theatre, Dallas
02/11/2024 Levitation 2024, Austin
06/11/2024 Foro indie rocks, Ciudad De México
10/11/2024 Inside Seaside 2024, Gdańsk
15/11/2024 Les Gémeaux, Sceaux
16/11/2024 Stereolux, Nantes
17/11/2024 Antipode Mjc, Rennes
18/11/2024 Le Pin Galant, Mérignac
20/11/2024 Le Radiant, Lyon
21/11/2024 MC2: Grenoble, Grenoble
22/11/2024 La Cooperative de Mai, Clermont-ferrand
23/11/2024 Le Point d’Eau, Ostwald
23/03/2025 COS Torwar, Warszawa
29/03/2025 Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg
30/03/2025 Cirque Royal, Brussels
01/04/2025 Philharmonie, Berlin
04/04/2025 Salle Pleyel, Paris
05/04/2025 Barbican Centre, London
07/04/2025 Wiener Konzerthaus, Wien
08/04/2025 KKL Luzern, Luzern
10/04/2025 Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
21/05/2025 Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona
22/05/2025 Coliseu dos Recreios, Lisboa
