SALVIA

Nicole Selivan was only 20 when she fled the war in her home country Ukraine, also leaving behind her budding career in music. Starting a new solo project in Brussels under the magical mystical name SALVIA, she teamed up with Arno De Ros and Tom Stokx (also of The Haunted Youth) to form her band. Tight bass and pulsing electronic drums give their music a gloomy energy akin to the dreampop, new wave and gothic alternative of bands like Boy Harsher, Current Joys, Lebanon Hanover and The Cure.

The dark mood of Selivan’s music and lyrics can be traced to her childhood in Kyiv, growing up with parents working in the funeral service business. Surrounded by grief, loss and mourning, she developed a deep respect for death, mortality and time. “Death will not bypass anyone, time does not stop”, Selivan says. “That is why the purpose in life for me is experiencing emotions and living in the moment. The same goes for my music, and I also want the people who listen to my music to experience emotions, often sad ones. In our capitalist world with a lot of commercial music, I want to leave a place for people where they can still be human.”

The dark indie sound of debut single ‘Time’ is the same that surrounds bands like Whispering Sons and – not surprisingly – The Haunted Youth. The song was also SALVIA’s ticket to the final of De Nieuwe Lichting 2025, Studio Brussel’s contest for new and promising talent in music.