It’s not every day you meet an artist who merges soul music, somatic therapy, and storytelling into one fierce, transformative experience—but that’s exactly what TIHANE does. If TIHANE ever takes the stage in East London, you’ll want to catch her at one of the best music venues in Shoreditch, where her sound would feel right at home. With a sound she’s coined “Indigenous Soul,” her music flows through the emotional terrains of heartbreak, cultural identity, and deep inner healing. Her debut album The War on Love is a cinematic voyage through grief, rage, dance, and joy—an honest portrait of love reborn. We caught up with TIHANE to explore her influences, her process, and what listeners can expect from this revolutionary release.
Your debut album The War on Love flips the classic love song on its head. What sparked the desire to reimagine romance so boldly?
I grew up on classic Soul and old Jazz – from Bill Withers to Billie Holiday, my parents played the best music, but it was always bittersweet. The fights in the house and the broken family narrative was tangled with the music. Growing up, I wanted to keep the heartache and raw truth of the songs but tell a more uplifting story about love.
You call your sound ‘Indigenous Soul’—a fusion rooted in your Polynesian Croatian heritage. How do your cultural roots shape your sonic identity?
My culture is a massive imprint on my musical identity. In Polynesian culture, you grow up in music, dance and storytelling, with lots of percussion, chanting and lyrics that talk about the spirit of the earth. Indigenous Soul is the sound of being a mixed raced, multicultural kid who grew up between islands and big cities. Soul music helped me connect back to my Indigenous roots, so merging the two is a reflection of how disparate worlds came together to create me.
The album moves through themes of romance, rage, and resilience. Was this emotional arc something you planned or something that revealed itself in the process?
This album has a mind of its own. We thought it was going one way and then it surprised us several times over. Ultimately, I started the album at the end of a relationship, through the breakup and then finished it when I reentered a new relationship with the same partner, several months later. The album showed me that healing romantic love requires being honest about the rage and sorrow many of us feel – in order to truly tap into the resilience of our hearts, which are always ready to love again.
Your single Throw It Back drops with the album on 27 June. Can you tell us what emotional space that track occupies within the larger story?
Throw It Back is full of secrets. Most people probably think of it as just a sexy dance track, but it’s actually more of an anthemic chant in the name of freedom, shedding the shame and societal programming that keep us suppressed and stuck in fear. Connecting to the raw power of my body helped me let go of a lifetime of rage, so that I could come back to real love for myself, the world and others.
You’ve guided creators through everything from Vogue Italia shoots to Yale seminars. How has your work in empowerment and strategy influenced your music-making?
Everything in life is storytelling. If you can learn to fall in love with the art of storytelling and being a storyteller, you become a creator capable of creating any kind of story. Music is how I make sense of the world, so without music I wouldn’t know who I am as a storyteller.
Your storytelling blends neuroscience, sound meditation, and somatic therapy. How do these tools inform your songwriting—or even your performance process?
I think there’s a new wave of artists emerging who are more interested in creating honest art and authentic performance experiences based on connection instead of mechanical performances designed to feed celebrity culture. For me, the creative practices, behavioral science and ancient wisdom I use in my work help me be the most honest version of myself and this creates deeper connections with listeners.
You were named one of NYC Journal’s Top 20 Inspirational Women to watch. How do you balance being an artist, strategist, and public speaker without burning out?
I’m no stranger to burnout but what keeps me in balance is the relationship I have with my body – through dance, meditation, sleeping enough. I used to be so disconnected from my body and healthy habits so it’s truly a miracle that I’ve become someone who prefers to be at the spa than to be at a rave.
What do you hope people take away from The War on Love—especially those navigating heartbreak, healing, or creative blocks?
More than anything, I hope this album helps people understand we are not alone. It’s such a seemingly cliché phrase but so many of us do feel alone, different, holding secrets about ourselves… That was me as a kid, listening to those old records and thinking I was the only one feeling all of that. So, I hope this album is a soundtrack for all of us on the journey of coming back home – to ourselves and to each other.