One of our ones to watch Auckland-based RnB tinged industrial metal artist VANA has announced her signing to Sumerian Records, as well as releasing new single “Pray”. This signing marks a significant shift for the self-taught muti-instrumentalist as she has already built an impressive following and earned over 85 million streams across platforms independently.

Brand new single “Pray” and accompanying music video comes as VANA is wrapping up her US tour supporting Set It Off and Fame On Fire.
“Pray” explores the fracture of reality through the lens of someone experiencing psychosis and mania, twisting religious iconography into a portrait if psychological chaos. It also reflects VANA’s own personal relationship with religion, raised in a religious household, she remains deeply informed and respectful of religious theology, even if she subverts it.

Speaking on her new release and signing to Sumerian Records, VANA shares “This song stems from the idea of how it’d feel experiencing psychosis. Sonically, this song is just as chaotic as I’d imagine someone’s psyche would be if they were in a manic episode. Almost as if both the angel and the devil on your shoulders were both screaming in your ears at the same time.”

“Signing with Sumerian feels like I’ve found a label that understands my brain. They believed in “Pray” the second they heard it, as well as in the world I want to create around my project. This song is just the beginning of a whole cinematic universe I’ve been dying to create. I feel like I just joined the perfect team to help me make the chaos in my brain real. Launching “Pray” with Sumerian already feels like the start of something huge, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve been cooking.”

VANA’s debut album will be arriving in Autumn 2026 via Sumerian Records and will introduce a dystopian fantasy world rooted in dark femininity, villainy, and the perspective of the misunderstood.