Justin Nozuka Talks Love Lost, Gained, and to Come on New EP ‘then, now & again’

In a time where we all could use some more love in our lives, Nozuka reminds us what goes around comes around on his latest EP, then, now & again.

Justin Nozuka talks new EP
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Image via Alimzhan Sabir

Justin Nozuka talks new EP

When we premiered Justin Nozuka’s single “No One But You” last October, it was a resounding return for the artist after a brief rest following his 2018 album Run to Waters. Alongside the UK’s unmistakable Mahalia, the track reintroduced Nozuka’s impassioned vocals, floating across a gleaming ballad of love, while revolving around the ineffable qualities of intimacy. The song itself focuses on the unconditional comforts of a romantic relationship where both parties can be open and honest; and for the entirety of his career, the 32-year-old Canadian singer has had a knack for this type of thing. 

Born in New York, but raised in Toronto, Nozuka has been making music since the age of 12. He credits 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the inspiration behind his lifelong obsession with songwriting, and in 2007, he released his independent debut album, Holly, to considerable fanfare. He followed this up with two Juno nominations, an NRJ Award in France, and over 100 million streams to date. For the last 14 years, then, Nozuka has successfully created an all-encompassing vocation out of his passion for singing—and he’s ready for his next step.

With his heart on his sleeve, the singer-songwriter connects with Complex Canada over Zoom to discuss how he transforms his emotions into his livelihood. After mentioning that he named his first album after his mother, it becomes rather apparent he’s quite sentimental at heart. And in a time where we all could use some more love in our lives, Nozuka reminds us what goes around comes around on his latest EP, then, now & again.

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The project, which arrives today, is a five-track meditation on the trappings of romance. “They’re sort of these different experiences that I’ve had with love, like true honest love,” he tells me, explaining the meaning behind the EP’s title. “Love is kind of like a cycle I found in my life. It comes in and out of, and in and around my life—then, now & again. From my past experiences and present experiences, and I have full faith that it will be there for me in the future as well.” 

On then, now & again, Nozuka says he draws on “really true and deep emotions” to find meaning in the face of love’s complexity and ambiguity. Like Mr. Perlman in Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, the singer urges us to “feel something [we] obviously did.” Throughout the project, Nozuka weaves in and out of affectionate memories of actualized and unrequited love—invoking what it means to fall fast and hard, or slowly and softly, into the romantic relationships that play their part and shape us all the same. Like water, the EP is overflowing with feeling, ebbing and flowing through the impermanence of heartache and the reassurance of enduring, selfless love. 

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“The love that I’m searching for is healthy love,” he says, hoping that—in all of his romantic endeavours—he strives toward nourishing love devoid of codependency. The EP is full of these juxtapositions, like on “Miami,” where he sings about the failures of a fling (“When you’re saying nothing/How can I get on that plane?”), or on “No One But You”, which highlightsa serene partnership (My brother, he listens/But honestly, I don’t think that he gets me like you do”). Nozuka portrays the duality of the heart within then, now & again’s breadth of experiences and emotional depths. 

“I started to know someone and we’d talk on FaceTime every night, seven hours at a time. We had to be apart because of COVID, but I just felt full to the brim with love and excitement and joy.”

His past work, while on the precipice of R&B, has always had soulful, blues-y inclinations mixed with overtones of folk music. From 2007’s Holly to 2018’s Run to Waters, Nozuka’s career has been a melting pot of genres, fusing sounds together with his emotive voice. This year, however, is different. Nozuka has finally decided to break the mould and categorically pursue R&B with his whole heart. “I find that my process is always kind of like a seesaw. I go to one end and then I want to explore the other,” he says. “I can sit creatively in the style of music that I’m making right now; I can see a constant pull of inspiration and excitement in this sound.”

Informed by the bottomless wells of romanticism, Nozuka pulls inspiration from his lived experience. Influences arrive from ‘90s- and 2000s-era R&B, mixed with some elements of sound design birthed in the ’70s. “On a sonic level, it filled me in ways that I could just swim in forever,” he adds tellingly. “I grew up on R&B music. That’s how I discovered my voice, so I connect with it on a very fundamental level.” As a fan of Lauryn Hill, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, and other evocative pioneers, Nozuka reinterprets past intonations for his refreshing take on contemporary R&B. then, now & again captures and synthesizes Nozuka’s history as a lover, firmly cementing his place as a storyteller for the people—and more importantly, of himself. 

Of the EP’s standout “Rains It Pours,” Nozuka says, “it’s reminiscent of the stuff that I grew up on, I’m connecting to myself in a way like coming back home to what I know.” It’s picturesque, singing in the rain R&B. The twist, though, is that the song is actually about love during lockdown. “I started to know someone and we’d talk on FaceTime every night, seven hours at a time. We had to be apart because of COVID, but I just felt full to the brim with love and excitement and joy.” 

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In the months leading up to its release, the EPs rollout came in the form of two sensational music videos—“No One But You” and “summer night o8”—along with an array of intermittent live performances streaming on YouTube, Instagram, and his own Fan App. This newfound focus towards connectivity created “a space where someone can get more of an understanding on what the project’s about,” and Nozuka says using these platforms have been a revelation so far. In fact, he’s so happy with the experience, he plans on holding more events in the foreseeable future via his app.

This focus on connection also appears outside of the dichotomy between artist and fandom, which finds Nozuka stepping away from romantic love to lean on platonic relationships instead. Relying on the supportive bonds of friendship and collaboration, he trusted director Julia Hendrickson’s “sensibility and her eye” to help his videos capture a grainy 35mm aesthetic reminiscent of films from the ‘70s. “summer night o8,” on the other hand, was written with Mitch Reed of niina rosa, and called upon BadBadNotGood’s Alex Sowinski to play percussion on the nostalgia-tinged, psilocybin-fuelled tune. “It sort of happened in a natural way,” he recalls, speaking on his favourite track off the EP. “There was an opportunity to exercise some creativity together.”

Given current day circumstances, then, now & again signifies a change for better or for worse. It’s the perfect project to spin whether you’re feeling good, bad, or comme ci comme ça. As a body of work, it’s a personal affair, teeming with relatable vulnerabilities we’ve all experienced at one point or another. Since life and love go hand in hand, the music suggests that it’s just a matter of time until things work themselves out. Because, as Nozuka mentions earlier in our conversation, “these are love songs from then, now & again”—and there’s a sobering relief in what he’s trying to say.

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