Q&A: Raissa’s “DESIRE PATH” EP as a Fearless Leap into Joy and Embodiment
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
“CAN I STOP BEING AFRAID?” — That’s the question Raissa asks herself at the beginning of every project—and with her latest EP DESIRE PATH, the answer resounds with clarity. Yes.
Fearlessness is the emotional core of DESIRE PATH, a radiant and richly layered body of work from one of today’s most inventive pop artists. “I feel like DESIRE PATH is quite fearless,” Raissa says. “When you are fearless, you open up more opportunities for joy.” That pursuit of joy—messy, physical, uncertain and entirely one’s own—shapes the EP's thematic foundation.
The London-based, multilingual, multinational world-pop artist has never been one to follow trends. Instead, Raissa creates her own universe, one where pop music becomes a vessel for personal liberation. DESIRE PATH is her most self-possessed work yet, a project grounded in instinct, full-body presence, and radical permission to feel everything.
“Even the title ‘Desire Path’—this idea of going down a route that maybe there isn’t a path that’s been paved, but I’m being called to go in a certain direction—that really shaped this project,” Raissa explains. “Maybe it’s uncertain, maybe it’s uncomfortable, but there’s something deep inside of me that requires me to do it. It’s about following desire, following joy, following your body.”
In a society built to distract and fragment attention, DESIRE PATH is a call back into the body. Raissa speaks of embodiment not as a trend, but as a necessity: “We live in a world that demands so much of our attention on screens. I really wanted to carve out space to be embodied for myself, and then, hopefully, by doing that, allow people to carve space out for themselves by listening.”
And that intention pulses through every track. From start to finish, DESIRE PATH pulses with that sense of embodiment. It is music made for moving—whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. With lyrics that follow intuition over narrative and rhythms that speak directly to the nervous system, the project invites listeners to feel their way through each track. This is not music made to be background noise. It demands presence. And in return, it offers joy.
Raissa is a rare force in modern pop—at once boldly experimental and deeply accessible. She balances high-concept ambition with melodic pleasure, always tethering her sonic explorations to something deeply human. She is a dreamer, a thinker, a body in motion. And DESIRE PATH is the sound of that motion—uncertain, undeniable, and free.
In letting go of fear, Raissa has opened up something expansive and profound. With DESIRE PATH, she made a space for movement, for embodiment, and for joy.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
RAISSA: I feel like, at least for this project specifically, I’m inspired by my life experiences. What inspires me may change from project to project, specifically for DESIRED PATH. I feel like I was very inspired by being outside, especially living in LA. The weather most of the year is pretty forgiving for being outdoors and doing things outdoors. I ride a bicycle everywhere. Just this feeling of wanting to be outside and wanting to dance. I want to make music that makes people want to dance, and because I was feeling that way, I was listening to a lot of music that made me feel that way. I was listening to a lot of salsa. I was listening to a lot of R&B and hip-hop, specifically from the early 2000s, so Missy Elliot and Andre 3000.
LUNA: You have released your new EP DESIRE PATH and huge congratulations! It feels both emotionally intimate and sonically expansive. What is the inspiration behind the project and what themes and emotions do you explore?
RAISSA: Every project that I make and DESIRE PATH being the latest, I ask myself, can I stop being afraid? I feel like DESIRE PATH is quite fearless. When you are fearless, you open up more opportunity for joy. I really wanted to imbue the project with this feeling of joy and fearlessness throughout the project, and even the title ‘desire path,’ this idea of going down a route that maybe there isn't a path that's been paved, but I'm being called to go in a certain direction or go somewhere, and maybe it's uncertain, and maybe I don't really know how to get there, or if it might be uncomfortable to get there, but I know that there's something deep inside of me that requires me to do this idea of following desire and following joy and following your body.
I come back a lot to this idea of being in a full body experience is so important, especially when we live in a world that demands so much of our attention on screens. I feel like for me as an artist, so much of trying to move the needle for yourself career-wise is about your presence online. I really wanted to vindicate this idea of we're also animals, and we're also embodied creatures. How we feel in our bodies, our ability to move, our ability to process emotion physically—whether it's positive emotion or negative emotion—is just so important. It's really hard to make space for it the way that modern life is. Music is a really special way to carve out that space. I really wanted to carve out space to be embodied for myself, and then, hopefully, by carving that space out for myself and making the project, I'm then allowing people to carve space out for themselves by listening to the project and experiencing the project.
LUNA: Can you walk us through the creative process for DESIRE PATH? How did the songs evolve from the initial idea to the final version?
RAISSA: Typically, for most of the project, it was very much production first, in terms of starting with a drum pattern that felt really good, or finding something melodic or sonic that felt really good at writing. From there, I think back to that idea of being embodied. Does what I'm hearing make me feel something in my body, and that thing that's making me feel, what is that like? How do I translate that into words? With the exception of “Heaven is a Dance Floor,” which I actually wrote quite a few years ago. I'd written the song to some chords and revisited it, because I think the song itself is about being embodied. The hook is, “Heaven is a dance floor, baby / And tonight I feel like somebody let the light so bright wash over me / Heaven is a dance floor, baby.” This idea of you can go to this place and you can dance, and you can self actualize through having a moment on the dance floor, feeling the music, feeling the light on your body, this transcendent experience.
I revisited that song because I love that song and I thought it was a really good song. I just didn't find the home for it at the time when I wrote it and set it aside. Sometimes you start exploring something that you don't fully know what that thing is at a certain point, then years later, you are consciously exploring that thing. Then you realize there were moments of me exploring this thing. I maybe didn't even realize at the time that's what I was doing, and now that I've actually scratched more of the surface, I can revisit that. Most of the project was in the moment, very almost impulsive in its making, with the exception of “Heaven is a Dance Floor.”
LUNA: What is your favorite song from DESIRE PATH and why do you love this song? Is there a certain element, lyric or message that you gravitate towards the most?
RAISSA: The opening track called “Don't Let Me Go” was the first song that I made from that period of making music. It was the first one that I did with Evan Voytas, who I made the most of the project with. I got a lot of things out of my system in that song. Out of all the songs, it is the one that moves me the most. It's the one that, if I listen to it in a particular mood, it might make me cry. That's always really special when something that you've made can move you like that and take you by surprise emotionally, because you made it so you know the front and back of it. There's something about that song that always takes me by surprise, and it always tugs at my heartstrings and feels surprising.
LUNA: Did you take any creative risks or experiment with new approaches on DESIRE PATH compared to your Cute Threat EP? What felt different this time around in how you expressed yourself?
RAISSA: DESIRE PATH is a lot sharper in its focus than Cute Threat. I couldn't have made DESIRE PATH without Cute Threat and that was me opening a door into a room, and that room being DESIRE PATH in this new era of music. I feel like DESIRE PATH is more focused. The visual element is a huge part of the storytelling, and I feel like that was very focused and very considered. I feel like the biggest difference is that focus and understanding of I'm a lot clearer on what this is, and I'm a lot clearer what things are meant to be visually and in terms of taking risks. I feel like the clearer you are on what matters, the easier it is to take risks. Specifically, I feel like I played with showcasing my sense of humor on Cute Threat.
LUNA: What inspires you to push boundaries within your sound? Are there any specific experiences, artists, or moments that have encouraged you to explore new musical territories?
RAISSA: I always get really excited when I see someone do something that pushes boundaries. I always have always really responded to people who are really trying to do something, whether I like that thing or not. I really like someone who is very self assured and is trying to do something, and is not trying to pander to anyone except making the best possible version of the thing that they're setting out to do.
I feel like it's hard to talk about who's inspiring, at least in contemporary terms, without talking about Charli XCX and brat. She's been around for a long time, and I've been a fan of hers for a long time and know her discography very well. It's really inspiring to see someone work at something for so long, and it finally clicks, but in such a perfect way, it couldn't have clicked that way for anyone else, in any other way. So she's been hugely inspiring. I think Rosalía is also someone who you never know what she's going to do next, which is super exciting. The big classics like Gaga and Prince have been a huge inspiration to me. I like people who commit to the bit. That forces me to really step up and commit to this thing that I'm saying I want to do. I really got to do it.
LUNA: How are you planning on celebrating the EP release?
RAISSA: Probably go for a swim somewhere, maybe go to the beach or a river or something like that, and spend some time with friends, call my parents and listen to the project.
LUNA: What’s something you’re dreaming of exploring next—sonically, visually or thematically—in your future work?
RAISSA: Fearlessness, which is something that I feel like I'm constantly trying to figure out how to be less and less afraid of myself, the world and everything. I think fear is such a huge topic in my life and in my art. I'm a very anxious person, so I feel like I’m constantly very anxious, but at the same time, I want to be extroverted and I want to express myself and be larger than life and do all these risky things. Fear is a big theme and the overcoming of fear. I would love to make something that is both contemporary and exciting, and pushes the envelope, but also has an ability to be timeless and an ability to always be good, no matter the context, or evolve with the context and still be interesting. I would love to make something that is enduring and stands the test of time. That's my next challenge.
LUNA: What’s fueling your fire right now—musically or personally—that’s pushing you into this next chapter?
RAISSA: I think the same thing that's always fueled me, the fact that I really love this. I really think it was what I was supposed to do with my life and holding on to that as much as possible, because it is very uncertain choosing to be an entertainer or be a performer. You have to go back to the very baseline of, I love this. I do this because I care about it.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
RAISSA: Excited. I'm a little bit scared. What's in store for me the rest of the year is just growing myself as a person, and growing my audience and growing my repertoire.
