Releases

Born in Ukraine, Nastasia Y [nas-TA-s’yah] blends folk tradition with futuristic ideals. Inspired by the vibrant, multicultural city of Toronto that she now calls home, Nastasia seamlessly fuses pop, jazz, and ancestral sounds. 

Nastasia grew up in Kyiv to the soundtrack of the Ukrainian resistance songs her late father would sing to her. After moving to Canada, she completed a jazz piano degree, fell in love with soul and Motown music, and released her first original album “Set The Water Straight” in English (as Stacey Y). She then went back to creatively embracing her culture with projects such as DoVira, BLISK, and many other collaborations. 

Her main project, the Nastasia Y Band, combines all her influences and features some of the most renowned musicians in Canada. 

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nastasia has been tirelessly volunteering and advocating for her country, using her music as the vehicle for her activism. 

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Ukraine-born Nastasia Y marks the passing of a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began with a haunting track ‘Bez Vas’, a contemporary and soulful resistance song that embodies the resilience and spirit of the people of Ukraine. 

With lyrics in both Ukrainian and English the track aims to draw attention to the war crimes being committed by Russia in an attempt to extinguish the spirit of the citizen’s of Nastasia Y’s homeland. Thinking of her family in Ukraine and of a relative who is currently a prisoner of war, the artist speaks of the missiles that have been fired at energy facilities in order to force families like her own to pass the winter in dark and coldness.

In ‘Bes Vas’, the Toronto-based singer songwriter, a self-described refugee seeking safety in Canada, draws on the powerful words of Ukraine’s president in his message to Russia: 

Without light? Heat? Or without you? ....Without you…Do you still think you can break us into submission? Cold, hunger, and darkness aren’t as deadly to us as your ‘friendship and brotherhood’.  — Volodymyr Zelenskyy  

Released on the Lulaworld Records label, the track was produced by multi-instrumentalist Rob Christian known for his work with Larnell Lewis Eddie Bullen and Elmer Ferrer.