Kadhja Bonet’s New Single ‘Dear Gina’ Reveals a Mysterious Letter

Welcome to Pass the Aux, where KQED Arts & Culture brings you our favorite new tracks by Bay Area artists. Check out past entries and submit a song for future coverage.

With high-reaching, elegant vocals and ghostly runs, East Bay-raised, L.A.-based artist Kadhja Bonet is back with her latest single “Dear Gina.” To fully understand this track you have to listen to its companion piece, “Delphine,” off of Bonet’s 2018 album, Childqueen.

The older song is about person who leaves a mysterious letter behind while exiting a relationship. Bonet says that she wanted to “capture the feeling of your stomach dropping out when you learn something you aren’t prepared for, and the swirl of the void that follows.” On her latest track, Bonet delves deeper into the content of the letter.

“Dear Gina, you have a spark / You’ll keep it bright through the dark / And I will be so happy to see you light / Wherever you’re headed though it’s not for me,” sings Bonet, who says the song centers on an overly gentle break up—drawn from a personal experience.

A Berkeley High School graduate who was raised in San Pablo, Bonet sings in a way that sounds like sunlight glimmering off of an expensive chandelier. The video that accompanies “Dear Gina” includes an interpretive dance done by a duo in front of cloth backdrops illuminated in hues of blue, indigo and violet.

Bonet, who released another single titled “For You” in the fall of last year (and a video earlier this year), says these individual songs are separate from the full project she’s working on, which will be released at a later date.

After the success of her previous work, and noted collaborations with the likes of Anderson .Paak and SiR, there’s growing anticipation for Bonet’s next album.