Artst Spotlight: Lyves

After a two-year break, we were pleasantly surprised to hear the alternative R&B offerings from London based singer, songwriter and now producer Lyves who released the deeply haunting and vulnerable Change as well as the breathless How Would it Feel . The releases did indeed signal a change of sound and approach from the singer, but also showed signs of maturity and a new found self-awareness that bleeds through her music.

Sitting down with Lyves a month before her project Change, co-produced with Mercury Prize nominated producer/ musician Dave Okumu, is due to drop. We discuss the project, her new found perspective on life and her own personal development. There is something refreshing about both her honesty and comfortability in her own skin. 

We talk about the mourning process and the release of grief in its different forms and of losing oneself, as well as her determination to challenge herself even hinting that she might write a pop hit in the future. The independent songstress describes the EP as a diary of sorts and hopes that people going through similar situations can relate.

One of the things that stood out listening to your new project is that it’s quite cinematic 

Thank you, I really paid attention to all the details, you know? Everything has its place and I suppose that I spent so long producing the tracks, so you see if I just translated it to just the piano it wouldn’t be the same picture for me.

What’s the concept of the Change EP or what was the story you were trying to tell?

When I was recording it, I wasn’t too sure but now looking back doing the press release process really helped me. It’s basically about one of the hardest times I went through in my life, a very difficult breakup and it wasn’t just the break up. The breakup was the instigator, but it was all the stuff that happened as a result that I had to deal with.

I suppose it’s about healing and it doesn’t have to be about a breakup it’s about a loss of some sort and going from loss to finding joy again.

I’ve always felt like the music that lasts is the music that moves you, and that it’s always been a bit strange that artists that personally go through experiences and then write about it for the consumer to enjoy

I get what you mean and thank god for music for allowing me to be able to express all that stuff because without it I don’t know where I’d be.

How draining is it to dig deep and be self-aware of yourself when creating music from your own personal experiences?

I remember when I first started writing this (the project) and I was in a really dark place, I was so upset and depressed I couldn’t stop crying. So, when I went into the studio, I was so entrenched in those emotions that I found it very difficult to write at that time. And actually, writing made it worse because I had to revisit everything.

I know you're half Italian and Australian. Can you tell me a bit more about your background ?

I was born in the UK but my dad’s Italian and my mum’s Australian. I grew up in Milan as a child but moved when I was 6 to Portugal  and after Portugal I lived in Australia for a year and then we moved back to London.

How was that affected you musically and culturally?

My parents had a really vast record collection, so I was really lucky to listen to a lot of great music and growing up in Portugal there’s this music called Fado. It’s very melancholic and really haunting and I think subconsciously those melodies affected how I sing.

How would you describe your sound?

Over this period of producing I think that my sound has changed quite a lot because I’ve always been quite limited to what I can play on the piano. I discovered sampling during lockdown, so I was able to choose through sampling something like crazy drums that I would’ve never found trumpet solos.

So, I started mixing all these sounds but I think what my music has always been called is alternative R&B but I love folk music as well, I love new age music, Hip Hop, electronic music and garage. I feel that to describe my sound is very difficult, it doesn't just belong to one genre.

Do you feel like it’s starting to approach the death of genres?

I think that genre is done. And you know Brent Fiyaz the artist? He put this thing up recently talking about genre and I’m of that camp as well. I don’t subscribe to the genre, music is music.

Can you talk to me about the meaning of your latest single The System?

I hope that people relate to it. For me the song is about the more you love yourself the healthier the relationship that you can have because there’s certain things that you can’t take. You’ll have more self-respective and self-worth. I realised that it’s not just about the other person it’s what we accept

I think that it’s easier to be self-aware when you’re an artist, writer or musician.

I see what you mean. There’s a responsibility in what you’re saying. The one thing I do listen to after I vibed and got it all out (the music) I listen again with different ears. I have a responsibility as an artist with what I am communicating.

What would you like to do more of in the future?

I’d love to work with more rappers. When Vince Staples sampled one of my tracks, I was so hyped I was like oh my god! He sampled one of my old tracks for ‘When Sparks Fly’.

Would you ever do a bilingual song?

It’s funny you say that because recently I’ve been speaking to this company in Brazil. They cover Brazil  and Argentina and because I speak Italian and Portuguese I was like why don’t I include Portuguese or Italian in the song.

Because my voice is also different in Portuguese and Italian. I also love Brazilian music a lot of the bossa nova stuff and even if I just did a verse in Portuguese and the rest in English.

The only reason I’m mentioning this is because you can speak Italian and Portuguese fluently and when I think of bilingual artists, I feel that Jesse Reyez does it extremely well.

I think it’s really beautiful because it means you can open it up to different people that maybe only speak Italian or Portuguese. They listen and then they can connect to something deeper, when it’s in your mother’s tongue there’s something special, I suppose.

What’s next for you?

I’m just going to enjoy the next month. There’s maybe 20-30 tracks that I’m working on at the moment so I’m trying to select which ones will make the album or which ones will be for sampling.

’Change’ is set to be released on November 18th