The performing name of London-based singer-songwriter and producer Letizia Ghisletta, Leti returns to our blog with a new meditation on endings, grief, and transformation. It’s called Bittersweet.
By Graeme Smith
“I used to resist endings,” Leti says. “They made me feel fragile. But through song writing and inner work, I began to meet them with more softness and even reverence.”
You can sense this thought pattern straight away in her new single, Bittersweet. It opens ghostly and ethereal with faint vocalisations pouring over a subtle piano melody. The composition builds through the first verse, with rumbling bass and a delicate and compelling lead vocal. There’s a powerful sense of emotion running through it, particularly coming from its storytelling lyrics that work through introspection to find a hopeful message.
The track rises and falls in gentle waves, giving us plenty of variation and holding our attention right up to its crescendo. There, we get traces of snare drum, soulful vocal harmonies and stirring strings. I’ve heard little like it, yet there’s a relatable familiarity about it that makes it an approachable track.
Bittersweet was inspired by the poem Peace, My Heart by Rabindranath Tagore and more widely by Eastern philosophies. Its sense of worldliness and otherworldliness has a depth to it that sets it apart from the crowd.
Composed and produced by Ghisletta, the track features Kit Denison on drums, and Kai Dudley on strings. It was mixed by Annie Rew Shaw and mastered by Matt Howe.
We first discovered Leti’s music around this time in 2023 through her single Orpheus. Drawing from Greek mythology about the poet of the same name who ventured into the underworld for his lover Eurydice, it proved a memorable, jazzy number. I enjoyed it so much, I followed it up with a share of her cosy autumn single When the Rain Comes Down later that year. Both tracks impressed, and it’s great to be able to share more of her work today.
Leti continues to be a one to watch in my eyes, and I think Bittersweet has plenty of replay value. Give it a listen in times of struggle and it will show you light. It’ll let you know that you are not alone. It’s perhaps its vulnerability that is its superpower in that regard.
To find out more about Leti, you can follow her on Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify.
Bittersweet is out now, available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Deezer. You can give it a listen below.
