Indie folk singer Selines grapples with the meaning of home in '(Nostalgia)'

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Under an indigo stage light, singer-songwriter Selines formed loose prayer hands around the microphone.With eyes gently shut, she began to romance the audience with “Me Empiezo a Enamorar,” a sweetly sung, whimsical tune about falling in love: first with someone’s smile, then with their moonlit eyes.“I feel like there’s an artist after me but there isn’t,” said Selines with a hushed giggle.

On a recent Tuesday evening, she was the headlining act at the Love Song Bar in downtown Los Angeles.Born and raised to Mexican parents in the Bronx, the budding folk singer has opened for Carla Morrison, DannyLux and Julieta Venegas — and will open for Gaby Moreno on Monday in NYC.She played for a full house in L.A., where members of the audience stood shoulder to shoulder — some even perched on top of the venue’s cushion seating — to catch a glimpse of the cherubic vocalist.Selines was just 15 years old when she wrote “Me Empiezo a Enamorar,” her most popular track to date.

It was the first single she ever released back in 2023, when beginning her artistic career under the indie label VPS Music.But on the eve of her 22nd birthday, Selines — who speaks in the same honeyed, dulcet tones she sings in — admits that she cringes at the sound of her own teen yearning.“I need to put out new music,” she said dryly backstage to The Times.In May, Selines fulfilled her own promise and released her second studio album, “(Nostalgia),” which is her first under Interscope Records.

The LP is a 13-song project that delves into the complicated heartache of leaving home; what does it mean to break away from the nest where one was raised? “ [I’m] not necessarily looking back, but finding my way in life...then knowing that I would look back at this very moment,” she said.In the opening trac...