Formally trained in contemporary performance, Rissa has built her music from those roots into a broader body of work that blends neo-soul, gospel, and modern R&B influences with a personal voice that feels both grounded and expressive.
Her early EP Made to Feel quietly gained traction with millions of streams, helping her form an audience before she expanded into projects like WHERE LOVE ONCE WAS, a conceptual EP that traces the arc of a relationship with clarity and purpose. Along the way she has picked up radio support from triple j, Double J and Nova, toured with international acts such as Allen Stone, and embedded her songs into playlists both here and overseas, proving her reach extends beyond local buzz into wider cultural conversation.
Hold Up, the song she performs on Mood on the Roof, captures a moment of love and frustration alongside collaborator Zyad. Written in just a couple of days, it locks a rhythmic groove and lyrical tension into a story about being caught between affection and exasperation, the back-and-forth of a modern relationship filtering through both vocal parts.
Across her releases, Rissa’s music reveals a sense of her community and the influences that shaped her, from church singing through to the early discovery of neo-soul pioneers, while keeping an ear tuned to what’s happening right now in Australian and global R&B.
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