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Jul 02, 2023 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Lesley Keller Web Exclusive

In only her 3rd New York show ever (previously, she played a sold out show last year at Mercury Lounge and a private showcase), French singer-songwriter November Ultra simply stunned and mesmerized the awestruck crowd on a cool and rainy summer night on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Already a star in her native France with a French Grammy in tow for her debut album (2022’s Bedroom Walls), it’s hard to imagine anyone hearing her here in the U.S. for the first time and not being blown away by her stunning voice, creative uses of various types of instrumentation, and overall presentation.

Taking the stage around 9 PM and playing solo, Nova (as she is known) started the set off on a Rhodes electric piano for a few songs and then switched to guitar for most of the set and that’s where she really shone. At times, I felt like I was listening to something from the ‘60s Brazilian bossa nova explosion, with visions of Gilberto/Getz alongside more modern purveyors such as the early Everything on the Girl swirling around in my head. Her playing and singing is deeply jazz-influenced as well. If you can imagine a young Tracey Thorn singing over Grant Green’s guitar playing, you’re not a million miles from this music’s feel. One particularly stunning track featured Nova looping her own vocals on a sequencer and singing hauntingly and movingly over them, reminiscent of Juliana Barwick, Fursaxa, and other singer-songwriters along those lines. Wow!

This is no mere nostalgia act, though. Clearly a millennial on the younger side, at various points during the evening, she declared her love for Harry Styles and One Direction as her inspiration for getting into music and also shouted out Mariah Carey at one point as well. Plus, the diverse, inclusive, young, and stylish (not to mention very queer) audience she attracts is a by-product of the inclusivity of her music and persona, a true safe space for outsiders to frequent and feel comfortable in. And perhaps this is to be expected for a performer whose song “Soft and Tender” (performed during the encore to close out the night and introduced as the “TikTok song”) has gone viral and for one who defies the traditional expectations of women in the music industry, particularly singers. But if this is what her shows are like, I will take it any day over the week over the alternative.