Kate NV’s 2020 record, Room for the Moon, is a playful and experimental pop album that defies conventional norms. Russian artist Kate Shilonosova chases ideas across 11 tracks inspired by Soviet and Japanese pop from the '70s and '80s, as well as children’s movies, indulging in its most whimsical impulses.

The opener “Not Not Not” is almost goofy, with chaotic melodies dancing chaotically. The instrumental “Da Na” follows, drawing on a familiar yet slightly uncanny palette of sounds—drifting clarinets and tuned percussion that sound like running fingers over combs or shakers, impossible to tell which.

“Sayonara (Full Moon Version)” is the fantastical daydream counterpart to Oingo Boingo’s nightmare new wave theatrics. The least strange track on the record is probably “Plans,” which fully embraces 80s dance pop aesthetics but even that song finds room for a minute-long instrumental passage featuring a bleating, almost atonal saxophone solo.

While the sounds are strange, uneasy, and almost queasy at times, the songs remain light and fantastical. Despite not understanding the lyrics, which are mostly in Russian, it’s impossible not to get a sense of hope from them. Kate NV’s Room for the Moon is not a somber lunar lullaby but the pleasant dreams of an innocent mind.