“I’m closing the chapter”: SICARIA to retire alias after ten years, move forward as Lou Nour

SICARIA’s Lou Nour is retiring the moniker and will shift to releasing music and performing under her own name.

Nour announced the change in an Instagram statement yesterday, 16th February. “After 10 years, I’m closing the chapter on SICARIA (formerly Sicaria Sound) and stepping forward under a variation of my own name: Lou Nour”, she wrote. “Without a doubt, SICARIA changed my life. It took me across the world and gave me community, purpose, and bags of good energy that I will carry with me forever. I am unbelievably grateful for this past era and for every single person who stood in front of those decks with me. Nothing about this decision erases that.”

“What is changing is how I want to exist within this industry”, she continued. Nour said while she’d be taking a “step back” from touring, she will keep DJing at clubs and festivals, “but more selectively and with fewer shows, placed in the right environments.” At the beginning of her statement, Nour described a growing unease with the intensity of the lifestyle her growing success brought: “The pace of being a touring artist in this era began taking a toll on me, both physically and mentally. It was subtle at first, then harder to ignore. I started to feel slightly detached from the version of myself I was presenting to the world. Not because it wasn’t real, but because it no longer felt like me.” 

Nour intends to broaden the sound of her next chapter, though she assures, “This shift won’t feel sudden to real ones who’ve been in the dance… Dubstep / 140 will always be part of my foundation, but they will no longer be the whole picture.”

Nour teased some upcoming “huge releases” planned for this year and thanked fans for their support over the years.

Sicaria Sound was founded as a duo in 2016 by Nour and Sancha Ndeko, who now DJs and produces as Mia Koden. The project shifted to a solo one in 2023, with Nour producing and performing as SICARIA and Ndeko launching the Mia Koden alias. This past November, Nour released the ‘Anti Nihilo’ EP as SICARIA on Backshift Sounds.

Revisit SICARIA’s Selections interview and playlist from 2023. 

Read Lou Nour’s statement in full.