On her debut album Shapeshifting, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Nisa Lumaj, who records as Nisa, embarks on a journey towards self-acceptance, self-actualization and a coherent sense of identity—the kind that strives for an empowered, prolonged stare in the mirror, rather than a habitually uneasy glance. As a daughter of Albanian immigrants, Nisa grew up listening to traditional folk music, but as a young person living in New York City and studying in London, she eventually became immersed in the world of English-speaking pop music and enamored by artists like Björk, Peter Gabriel and PJ Harvey.
