Berklee College of Music student Luke Frees is proving that it's time for his charismatic, fun-loving sound to be heard.
Releasing his first debut album in 2019, titled "The Lost Weekend," Luke Frees was able to hone his skills learned from school so that he could craft an album with tenacity and heart. And, he didn't stop with the album release, as he offers a frolicsome atmosphere for listeners to truly revel in.
"She's a Chameleon" is your ultimate three-minute and twenty-six-second diversion. Luke Frees demonstrates how truly free he is in this tune, as he maintains a completely carefree vocal tone for the entirety of the song. "She's a Chameleon" is robust and flavourful with its ambiance, as colorful acoustics make up the majority of the melody.
Luke Frees isn't being conservative in this song with the lyrics either, as he's chanting his truth and ultimate perceptions on a particular woman. The song centers around a narrative of a woman who is liked and loved amongst many, and yet, her whole being is shaped around who she is with. Many inauthentic versions of herself get portrayed, and Luke Frees uses a strong metaphor with the use of the word "chameleon."
We are left intrigued by, "She's a Chameleon," which was a unique and fun tune from Luke Frees, that demonstrated both his thought-provoking songwriting abilities and his lively artistic persona.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Luke, and congratulations on the successful debut of "She's a Chameleon." Right off the bat, how do you feel this song compares to the songs presented in your 2019 album, "The Lost Weekend?"
So I think overall this song feels a little more catchy and focused lyrically than some of the things on The Lost Weekend. That album is really a collection of songs I was writing at Berklee, and with this third record, I tried to make every song stand on its own. I think TLW was a good starting point for me but I’m really excited about the direction my new stuff’s going in.
With a clear narrative in place, "She's a Chameleon" seemed somewhat targeted. Was there a specific person in mind whilst you were writing the content for the song? How do you often garner your inspiration for your songs?
This isn’t targeted at a specific person per se, but it’s definitely pulled from real-life experiences with fake friends and people who are only interested in you if they can get something out of you. As far as garnering inspiration, I used to like to take something that happened in my life and twist it and distort it and come up with these exaggerated narratives that end up being fictitious. I used to do that a lot more, but with this album, I’m writing more personally (I fell in love, for starters, and that’s featured heavily haha), and I also moved cities, so there’s a bittersweet undercurrent that runs through the whole thing.
The melody and overall production in "She's a Chameleon" were full of vibrant life. Can you elaborate more on your strategy behind the vocal approach you took on in this song?
And thank you for the comment about it sounding full of vibrant life!! I think the best songs have a lot of juxtaposition, so I wanted to write a song with scathing lyrics that had a really fun and singable chorus. I put a lot of thought into my lyrics, but I’ve always found the more thought you put into your melodies, the more likely you are to overthink it. So I just had this riff on the guitar, started a Voice Memo, and followed my gut with the melody, and really didn’t change it much after that.
What was the overall hope and purpose of releasing "She's a Chameleon?"
My overall hope and purpose are to kick off this album cycle with a banger I’m really proud of. It has all my friends playing on it, and I really wanted the first single to feel like a party. The album’s going to be called Point Of You, and the full thing’s out in November and I can’t wait. I think this might be my favorite one yet—it’s definitely been the most fun to record and work on.
