COVID-19 anxieties inspired the Toronto musician's latest pop-rock single.
Toronto-based pop-rock musician Loviet, or Natalie Lynn, reflects on 2020 anxieties on her latest single "Dullshine". Inspirations including HAIM, the 1975, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen and the Killers lend to her blend of classic rock and pop punk styles highlighted on her latest moody but upbeat track. Lynn describes her singles as songs suited for a live stage, or for belting out loud in your car during a late night drive.
"Dullshine" was written in the summer of 2020, where Lynn spent the majority of the warm weather stuck in her apartment due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"I was cooped up in my apartment in Toronto with my partner and drummer Ryan," said Lynn. "I was basically set up to do a couple zoom co-writes a week, with new and familiar writers, working towards this next batch of songs. It was after my debut EP release and I was kind of coming down from that. It was such an amazing experience to keep me grounded throughout the first half of such a dreadful year. I was so grateful so I didn’t understand how I could be so down at this time."
Loviet's single was inspired by the emotional weight of the past year.
"The confusion, helplessness, everyone's eyes being on their phone every single day to hear the latest bad news, the acts of violence against women and BIPOC- I was really tapped into that digitally connected line of empathy with so many people all over the world," said Lynn. "With that, I was also coming to terms with my own mental health and mindset, for the first time having the time to look at how I was treating myself. I felt hypocritical as an advocate for ‘change’ or ‘positivity’ towards other people, when I was still beating myself up for things from years ago. "Dullshine" was a song about this, and came from a place of acceptance and loving yourself because of your flaws, making peace and rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt."
Although the artist was focusing on co-writing that summer, "Dullshine" was written entirely by Lynn.
"It was significant that I wrote this song on my own, separate from the co-writing that summer, because I had planned on only using it as a poem in my phone notes to vent," said Lynn. "One night Ryan and I were making a random demo of this fast-paced Bruce Springsteen-esque track, and I pulled out my notes and tried the words out as lyrics, and it all came together in that moment. That up-tempo energy really captures more of that emotion I was feeling, that sense of urgency that makes me want to dance, or cry, or explode all at once. As someone who has a huge love for life, and everyone and everything in it, "Dullshine" is like learning to take the bad with the good, seeing the sun through the clouds."
The musician wanted to coax feelings of nostalgia during her video shoot.
"We actually made two videos for "Dullshine"- the lyric video that came out on release day, and then the official music video released a month later," said Loviet. "I loved making both of these videos. The lyric video I put together myself using behind-the-scenes footage from the "Dullshine" album artwork photoshoot, that took place in Hamilton with Steph Montani. We used the City View Inn and Crestwood Motel as two of our shoot locations. In my hometown, I grew up right between three motels on the main drag as you roll into town- so I loved having that sense of nostalgia and small town identity in this video."
The official "Dullshine" music video took footage from Loviet's New Years Eve live performance.
"It was on the Metro Centre stage, now the Scotiabank Arena, in Halifax NS, which was a huge deal for me- I went to all my first concerts at this venue," said Lynn. "I saw Avril Lavigne, Bob Dylan, Sarah McLachlan and Butch Walker, so it was a really cool moment. We kind of just rolled with the chance to make the video out of shooting behind the scenes footage of this beautiful stage. I hired videographer Fallon Fraser to film, and synced up our actual performance with the track. It was the first time we got to play this song, or any show that year, live on a stage with the full band, so it was really cool that we got to make the video out of it and capture some of the real energy that goes into performing."
Loviet prefers her listeners to personalize the meaning they find in her songs.
"Whenever I release a track, I just hope people take their own thing away from it," said Lynn. "It’s a song about strength and survival, and not taking anything for granted. I know music has gotten me through all the tough times, so I just really hope it can bring people closer together right now and help inspire someone else."
You can help support the pop-rocker by following her socials, streaming her music, or by purchasing her tunes from her Bandcamp.
"Streaming or sharing my music, watching my videos or just hanging out with me in the online world until things open up really helps out," said Lynn. "I’m also selling merch on Merch Tent!"
Bandcamp: https://loviet.bandcamp.com/
Merch Tent: www.merch-tent.com.
Upcoming gigs:
(Postponed due to COVID-19.)