Noga Erez
Flowing with her trademark swaggering attitude, gritty lyrics and slick production, pop renegade Noga Erez has returned with her razor sharp new single, “NAILS"
On “NAILS” Erez and her collaborative and life partner Ori Rousso playfully explore the grip that takes hold when jealous thoughts flood our consciousness, fleshing them out with defiant beats and her effortless vocal flow. With a talent and style as formidable as her own, even Erez isn’t safe from the wrath of the green-eyed monster. Rather than run from this negativity, she tackles the gargantuan emotion head on with humor and wit, minimizing it with her animated mantra “I’ll bump a bitch / flesh pieces in my nails.”
“‘NAILS’ is a song about jealousy, and how being jealous of people, in this particular case another woman, makes you idealize that person in a very weird and dark way,” Erez comments. This is something that Erez explores in the track’s accompanying video, directed by Indy Hait.
“The video features me and a group of characters who all look completely different and weird, but they all look like they're about to do something really big,” Erez explains. There is a real tension as if something is about to happen. What we are actually walking towards is a woman who looks like a model. She has that typical / classic body image. The unrealistic societal standards of beauty - skinny,
tall, sexy, flawless. She's walking in slow motion, and as we all come into the same shot, you realize that she is actually ten times our size.Then there is a David and Goliath type of situation where I take out a slingshot and shoot her straight in the forehead and she drops dead. It’s very weird and ugly and funny.” With these absurdly themed visuals, Erez bites back against her jealous doubts, making light of their negative grip.
The deeply satisfying sound of Erez tapping her own nails on different surfaces also underscores the new anthem. Their crunch adds a palpable, physical energy to the song, further emphasizing the sharp humor that fuels her fierce words. “I look at my nails a lot and I am always making sounds with them. They’re an extension of my playful self,” Erez comments. Armed with her embellished fingertips, she gleefully antagonizes her jealous thoughts, imagining her own nails as an amusing weapon with which to take down her adversaries.
Erez acknowledges the privilege of being allowed to work through these emotions in her music. “I feel like we live in a culture that says, "Don't think those negative thoughts. Don't even let that cross your mind"; but sometimes I'm like - ‘these bitches are looking at my man, I Don't want that!’ - it's very, very funny. So I say, let it cross your mind, so that you can leave these things at the thought level, and get the poison out of you. The song is an invitation for everyone to feel that empowering, aggressive vibe and embrace it.” ‘Nails’ certainly gives listeners the opportunity to tap out the toxic impulses that these ridiculous resentments often instigate.
