Just when we thought Lo had hit the peak of her career, the heartfelt Singer/Songwriter returns with a saddened tale on her latest single, "Away."
Coming fresh off her publicly-acclaimed debut EP "Plan For An Independent Future" and two attention-garnering singles, Lo felt pressure regarding how she would top her previous works while still gaining recognition from her fanbase.
Exceeding expectations with her mesmerizing ballad "Away," Lo offers a melancholy tale of heartbreak and inner confusion. Over soft and melodic electric guitar picking, Lo serenades us with her relatable lyricism surrounding lost love and the turmoil it provides. Lo's songwriting brings listeners deep into the conceptual and heartrending piece, allowing them to feel every inch of Lo's aching soul.
"Away" blissfully opens with Lo's sweetly layered vocals, offering immense space for listeners to breathe and ponder. While the woozy electric guitar enters alongside minimal and faint keys, the song's atmosphere is instantly shaped through Lo's tender lyricism and the instrumental haze.
While the dreamy instrumentals continue to push the song's delicate atmosphere, what stands out as the track's strongpoint is Lo's compelling and heartbreaking lyricism, depicting scenes of a past partner driving away as she goes back inside with no one to follow her. The entire song offers chills, from Lo's vivid lyricism to the song's ethereal instrumentals.
We can't seem to shake the soothing melodies and descriptive lyricism Lo offers within her dreary single "Away," and we're wildly impressed with her conceptual songwriting that inevitably places listeners as the main character.
To say that your single "Away" is well-crafted is an understatement. What pushed you to write such a heartbreaking tale surrounding lost love?
I wrote this song in one sitting, which is very unusual for me to do, but I had recently been creatively stuck and I kept replaying in my head how important it is to write with honesty so that’s what I did. I wrote this song just after my girlfriend and I decided to take a break from our relationship and it was heartbreaking. I felt such a loss, and it felt even more ridiculous because we weren’t actually breaking up, we just needed a bit of time to ourselves to figure some things out. I wrote as honestly as possible, fleshing out the moments after, and tried to emulate that feeling in the music.
Was it at all challenging to write such heavy lyricism for "Away"? How did you manage to place yourself back at the moment that inspired the single?
Yeah, it was challenging to put me through those moments again but I was still very much in that headspace so it didn’t feel far at all. I’ve always tried to document moments in life, whether it be journaling or drawing, or writing a song, I’m very familiar with delving back into a situation where emotions were heavy.
How did you make the instrumentals on "Away" to be as equally moving as your lyrics? Were you playing the melancholy yet gripping electric guitar that acts as the instrumentals focal point?
Some of my favorite sad songs are super stripped back and I think less is more in that sense. Something that feels so weighted, to me, needs to feel like ’this is all I can give a song because I’m exhausted, so here is my guitar line and vocals and that’s all I have left to give’ which sounds very dramatic! And the guitar was just me plugging straight into the amp and adding reverb in the mix. My goal was for the instrumentation to sonically represent the story and feel bare, so I’m glad that’s coming across.
Seeing as "Away" follows your two previous singles, "Floating" and "Fiction," how does "Away" differ from the previous two songs? Do the pieces surround different or similar lyrical content?
I think Floating is more about confusion and choices, Fiction is about desire, and Away is about heartbreak, so I think the stories aren’t that similar but the overall feel captures that same desperation and longing. ‘Away’ just feels different to me because it was written when I was in a completely different headspace to when I wrote the EP. Not sure how listeners interpret it yet, but that’s the beauty of music! Free to interpretation.
What can listeners anticipate to hear next from you?
I’ll definitely have another single coming out before the end of the year, and it’s a lot different from this one. There’s a lot more energy and attitude. I’m really excited to release something that’s more upbeat!