When Anita Lester turned 12, her mother passed down her late father’s collection of classic poetry. Having spent the previous two years painting in her attic bedroom, poetry would resonate with Lester on a deeper level and provide stillness to a tempestuous adolescence. Like many whose work featured in the collection, a career in music would ensue.
Skip forward to now and Lester is emerging from a hiatus in music. After a stint in LA writing at the legendary Sound City Studios, the singer/songwriter has chosen to release independently from her new home in London. Canaanite is Lester’s impressive solo debut.
Aside from a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker,” which was shared by the wordsmith himself just weeks before his death, MAN is Lester’s first release in over three years and LAST DAY. is her latest. Both songs are accompanied by powerful videos, which were directed by her brother Yoav Lester and shot (by Matt Wood) entirely on location whilst the siblings were on a pilgrimage through Israel: their birthplace and cultural homeland.
Both sonically and visually the tracks see Lester embracing her heritage and reclaiming her femininity as she looks to the past to inform her future.
Photos by Danny North
