On May 15, Niina Soleil will release her debut full-length LP, Heliophilia, a free-spirited love letter to the unique summertimes that decorate The Cradle of Cool, Southern California. The album is a gentle meshing of her previous singles delicately interlaced with new additions, expressions each as dynamic as her landscapes. With Heliophilia, Niina Soleil has completed her "cosmic puzzle" –a term she invokes to better define the craft of songwriting. She explains: "When I’m working with other writers, it’s like a game that we’re all trying to solve; how do we make this story both fabulous and sensical? But when I’m writing by myself, it sometimes feels like a benevolent form of haunting. Like I’ll get a piece of an idea—a scrap of melody or lyric— and it’ll just… haunt me until I finish it. An unfinished song is a bit like a beautiful spirit with unfinished business if that makes any sense at all— I just try to interpret what the song wants to be until I’m satisfied that I got it right." If each cosmic puzzle is one of Ms. Niina’s ghosts, then Heliophilia is her Winchester Mansion. Each apparition telling of the bright days of life, the human pleasures, illusive love, and the feeling of sand between their toes.
Soleil has a keen spirit for collaboration, finding her truest expression of herself invigorated by those she shares her studio with. This has led to numerous fruitful partnerships. "[I worked with] almost as many producers as there are songs," she quips. "First, with Fred Ball on 'Lonely in Love;' then with Phil Davidson on 'Make it Summer.' I worked with the Penultimates (Eric Janson and Jeremy Ruzumna) on 'Beautiful Nowhere,' 'Flowers on Fire,' and 'Psychedelic Sunshine;' with Matan aka Paper Idol on 'Happy Pills;' with Erik Jansson on 'See Red' and 'Whiskey Valentine' (co-produced by Andrew Ampaya); and with Tim Anderson on 'Irish Goodbye.'" Songs like "Psychedelic Sunshine" and "Beautiful Nowhere" provide the connecting tissue to the sunshine-centric Niina Soleil her audience originally warmed on. "I was trying to paint the hazy, halcyon days of summer—the summer that something happened, the storied summer, the ‘once upon a summer’ kind of summer." And like those Topanga sunsets, the summer shines in many shades — each distinctly Niina. Thus far, Niina has shared a handful of singles from her forthcoming album — "Lonely In Love," "Make It Summer," "Flowers On Fire," and "Happy Pills." Each track was received with praise upon release.
When asked which lyric from Heliophilia best sums up the vibe of the album, Niina replied, "'Drink in sun like it’s rain' from “Make it Summer” is a good contender, since the album is devoted to a certain kind of California sunshine and heat. But lyrically? There’s a line from “Psychedelic Sunshine” that hits it pretty dead on: “My soul laid bare, like Godiva in a Ford.”"
Stay tuned for the full Heliophilia LP, due May 15. | 
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