Credit: Kate Gondwe

This year has seen a lot of us doing some surprising things with our spare time. Whether you’ve begun foraging for local fungi, dedicated weeks to perfecting ideal homemade kimchi or you’re just one member of the growing sourdough legion, we have all found ways to pass the time. If you’re 21-year old Lea Neu, you discovered a passion for embroidery. In between crafting memorable pieces such as an embroidery hoop stitched to read “Kill All Men”, the Emerson student released her debut EP Nostalgia on September 18th. 

Lea released the single “Messy” – a late night booty call bop – last October with the next single “Dizzy”, a synth-pop infused track that almost sounds like Lorde in another life, on February 13th. The EP was initially slated for a March release, however an ensuing global pandemic and eventual civil unrest delayed plans by a few months. Taking the summer to re-center herself creatively, Lea launched an Instagram account (@Neudlepoint) for her spare embroidery pieces. “I have to be busy, and I pick up passion hobbies all the time and stick with them for a couple months,” Lea explains before citing the Cello and Nail Art as previous examples. 

Approaching September, Lea began to find her creative stride yet again. Returning to school in Boston gave her the space she needed to start writing again. She also found the time to release her EP. “Back to school seemed like the time to do it,” she says. And so on September 18th, Nostalgia was released. A collection of seven songs, Lea says are all connected by the “common thread” of the idea of Nostalgia. “There was never really another name I considered [for the EP],” admits Lea. The release includes singles “Messy” and “Dizzy”, as well as remixes of her first ever single “Cobwebs” by Berklee sophomore Max Harris and a mix of “Messy” by Everett Ave. Writing the lyrics and melodies herself is something Lea is quite familiar with, having started songwriting at 11 years old,  about fictitious boyfriends or apartment paradises. 

While back in her creative space in Allston, Lea admits to still be suffering from a “Quarantine Brain”. Like many others, looking into the future can seem trivial at times but she hopes to finish up and release two new singles soon and to keep advocating through her music. “I never want to not be political with my music”, explains Lea. She is donating all proceeds from the track “Bloodless Heart” to the organization RAINN.

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You can follow Lea on Instagram @leaneu and @neudlepoint and you can stream Nostalgia on Spotify