HYRA would like to reintroduce herself. Since coming onto the scene four years ago, the budding pop artist and self-proclaimed “Caffeine Princess” has been making early 2010’s era EDM-infused earworms like “REM (No Sleep)” and “Seventh Heaven” in her signature spunky fashion.
But for the past two years, HYRA admittedly felt like she lost herself. She got rid of her signature bright red hair and opted for a platinum blonde. “I became a blank canvas — stale, empty and devoid of myself,” she says. That all ends now with the release of the “Gone Girl” visualizer.
In the video, premiering today on PAPER, HYRA is encompassed in a gooey, placenta-like fluid. She’s got the bright red hair back, and this time, she’s quite literally coming out of the womb fully formed as the artist she was always meant to be. “In the journey of ‘Gone Girl,’ you can hear HYRA entering the spotlight again. You can feel her presence in the room and she's beckoning you to follow.” The new release coincides with the artist’s new conceptual universe, ‘HYRA’s House,’ which was inaugurated by her sending personalized, handwritten invitations to fans’ houses.
Below, we sit down with the hyperpop heroine to discuss the new video, shapeshifting, and why we’re all invited to her house.
Tell me about Hyra's House. What is your goal with this Invitation?
If you received an Invitation, you saw that there was a phrase at the front: "A detachment from the Real World and immersion into my Fantasy." It set the stage of where Hyra's House exists: both a concept in my head, and a destination I hope fans and strangers can find comfort in and make their own.
We first hear of Hyra's House in my song, "Seventh Heaven." In the intro, you hear two voices going back and forth, "Bitch we're going out," "Going where?" the other responds. "It's at Hyra's House."
That's where the story truly begins. It has become almost like an inside joke between myself and fans. Well, Hyra's House is a very 'real' place. I'm there when I close my eyes and I listen to this project. You can fake it, make it bodied when you get to my house. I hope to see you there.
With the Invitations, I wanted to feel a connection beyond the digital world. I'm a big fan of dramatics and a lover of well-thought-out events. I imagined the feeling of receiving a bright red, wax-sealed envelope in the mail out of the blue. It made me excited that, in some way, shape, or form, people from all over the world were connected via this experience as guests of Hyra's House. Also, I've been told every good party has a guest list.
The "Gone Girl" video signals a rebirth of sorts. What was the inspiration behind this song and video?
"Gone Girl" is the return to HYRA. I wanted to welcome her back in her rawest form. In the lyrical story, we follow her through the night — a questionable influence that you'd better stay away from. In "Gone Girl," I remembered who I am. I spent the last two years confused, stripping my identity like an ill-fitting costume. During that time, I got rid of the red, and became a blank canvas: stale, empty and devoid of myself. At least that's how it felt in hindsight. When I look at photos of me blonde, I can see the Hyra we know hidden behind the platinum. In the journey of "Gone Girl," you can hear Hyra entering the spotlight again. You can feel her presence in the room and she's beckoning you to follow. She was demanding that I follow. And I did.
This song is part of the larger Hyra's House project. "Gone Girl" is where we meet our host, and so, the song works as an introduction (or even re-introduction to some). You can hear her telling you what she's all about, what to do (and what not to), and of course, you might go a little far if you're spending the night with her. Hyra's House is an audiovisual experience; I started my journey as a filmmaker. "Gone Girl" serves as an "ACT I." You have to know who the main character is and what her motives are, her history.
"Gone Girl" sets the tone. It is such a drastic switch up from what we've heard from me in the last year or so. This was necessary for both myself and fans to understand that we are back, and yet we are re-born. Visually, this needed to be communicated as well, and so the Rebirth video came into fruition. I worked very closely with director Elise Jonke to find the perfect way to translate the drastic audio U-turn into video. From a slimy cocoon, I appeared: a more abrasive, drastic version of myself. As I mentioned, it's me in the rawest form, and this is represented from a production perspective: the Korg MS-20, Prophet 6, a guitar, and a drum machine. That's about it - but it works. The bridge works as a direct conversation between Hyra and myself. We need each other. I need Hyra for my expression, and she needs me to exist. We're a symbiotic organism. I am both the good girl gone and the "Gone Girl." TLDR: "Gone Girl" ironically marks the return of the girl in red.
What is the HYRA artistic ethos?
I think it goes hand in hand with Hyra's House rules, which those who received the Invitation have. Primarily, it's the notion of showing up as your most "ideal inauthentic self," so much so, that it's a reflection of who you truly are. When you stare in the mirror, who do you see that no one else sees? When you close your eyes and listen to your favorite song, who do you become? I think, for me, right now, Hyra is about Becoming. It's about just letting go and shapeshifting into the different versions of you, until you find the one that feels just right. I've never felt like just one girl, and I think it's silly to try and compartmentalize who we are into one box. My music is a reflection of that.
Photography: Nathaly Pacheco
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