Ukrainian-born Australian singer-songwriter ‘Pshonka’ (Katia Pshenichner) writes folkloric dark pop. This pop is serious, and it’s Soviet. Pshonka, on the other hand, is a gluten-free superfood – a tiny, spherical grain Slavs slip into savoury side-dishes. It’s also what Katia’s mamochka called her when she was a tiny spherical grain herself, growing up in Ukraine. Soon after arriving in Australia Katia discovered Crunchy Nut and never ate millet again. The end. 

Except to say Pshonka writes haunting synthy and cinematic ballads and joyful and irreverent pop. Her vocals are crystal at the top and metallic at the bottom, her styling is influenced by Russian folk and musical theatre and recalls artists such as Aguzarova and Kate Bush. She writes in both English and Russian.

There’s a salt lake round Mildura, an endless plain with nothing in sight, 

If you strain your ears you’ll hear that cracked earth has no sound,

Other than a beautiful ringing in your ears. 

We are what we hear and see.  

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