Paris based duo Nerisah (Image: Mersiha Husagic & Nicolas Rabine)
Paris-based duo Nerisah dropped their haunting new single, “East Ghost” on 30th October 2026.
NOCTURNAL DUST: Nerisah
Nerisah (Image: Mersiha Husagic & Nicolas Rabine)
Paris, March 2026 saw Bosnian-born Mersiha and French musician Nico artistically collide with the birth of Nerisah their creation.
Melding together their respective nationalities they sing in French, English and Bosnian and create a self-anointed sound of “nocturnal dust, with a taste of alternative rock”. Heavily focused on a raw guitar sound and swirling shape-shifting vocals, the result assimilates darkness, melancholy and absurdity, whilst not losing sight of the human aspect.
The improvisation aspect of their work remains paramount to their artistic vision (“We try to follow the song rather than force the song to follow us.”). Indeed this is fully evident on debut single release “East Ghost”.
TRUSTING INSTINCT: “East Ghost”
Nerisah “East Ghost” single artwork
With its haunting guitars and ethereal vocals, the lyrics of the song draw heavily on Mersiha’s childhood in Bosnia, brought sharply into the present by the experience of war returning to the headlines.
As such the song is emotionally dark, dense and deep. It’s swirling opening and haunting guitar almost magnetically latch on to Mersiha’s sombre and intense vocal before the track veers into a fuzzed visual landscape where it asks whether the ghosts of war ever disappear or merely pause, waiting to be stirred again. The sonics echo and positively reverberate as the song ebbs and flows, eventually locking the vibe into a mesmerising, heavy hymn of war.
It is clear that the layers of the song have evolved through the repetitive improvisation created by the artistic alliance Mersiha and Nico have formed. Indeed the percussive painful darkness of the song is rhythmically magnified by replacing a standard drum kit with primal percussion—cowbells and tambourines that beat like an anxious pulse.
But despite the thickness of the sonic architecture, which mirrors the encompassing aspect of war, it never loses sight of the human element over its five and half minutes—Mersiha somehow drawing solace and comfort through the improvisation the collaboration with Nico has enabled.
ECHOES OF WAR: The Human Side
Nerisah (Image: Mersiha Husagic & Nicolas Rabine)
As the past ghosts of the East echo and still reverberate through current times, the musical canvas of Nerisah captures a haunting vision of the enduring human turmoil that never fully disappears.
It’s a challenging but deep and emotive mosaic of painful memories and history that Nerisah has captured in a unique and powerful way.
The single is available on all the usual streaming platforms and can also be listened to below:
