lottie, with the lights out
I like to think we live in a world now where the gay community don’t have to sing songs about heterosexual relationships in order to be successful. Instead they can write and perform music that’s close to their heart and their truth. Pop singer lottie does just that in her career, including her latest single ‘Lights Out’.
Image credit: Adree Chan.
Singer, songwriter and producer lottie has taken to travelling the world. Born in Britain, she’s spent time in the U.S.A., Switzerland, and for the past two years has resided in Singapore. It’s here she linked up with record label Flipside and producer Hangi Tavakoli. ‘Raining Down On Me’ was their first release in January, a collaboration both with Tavakoli and vocalist SWAN, another Flipside artist. February saw the release of lottie’s debut solo single entitled ‘Chloe’, with follow-up ‘Nervous’ arriving in March. ‘How Does It Feel?’ preceded the release of lottie’s four-track EP ‘Dance With You’.
lottie’s music is informed by a myriad of influences, from performing in musicals during her teenage years, to listening to more contemporary artists such as Lorde and BANKS. lottie studied English and Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London, helping her poetry and lyrical content to become the backbone of her music career. Most recently, lottie performed a piano cover of R.E.M.’s ‘Daysleeper’, uploaded to her YouTube channel. lottie’s latest single ‘Lights Out’ is the first from her upcoming full-length album.
Beginning with piano chords and an interesting programmed beat that is neither overly assertive nor in the background, this combination of sounds sets the tone for ‘Lights Out’. ‘Oh my girl she got me high, I can’t help myself and I, I feel it right there in her kiss, she’s the one I’m gonna miss.’ Though the lyric starts optimistically, there’s a melancholic tone in this song and the melody that conveys to the listener early on that all isn’t well.
Despite the bouncing beat amid chimes and the warning shake of maraca, the state of affairs turns sour: ‘But you’re giving me, you’re giving me nothing.’ Then the earlier opening lyric is rewritten, reflecting the change in ‘Oh my girl she got me lost, a thousand seas she’s roamed across. And I could never make her stay, guess that’s why she went away…’ lottie’s use of repeated motifs in her lyrics with slight alterations is why her music catches on whilst still maintaining a freshness.
Similarly, the production of Hangi Tavakoli with lottie keeps the music open, not overloaded with layers or unnecessary build-ups. Instead, their approach here gives a little and takes a little, with the piano performance a constant and drum programming intermittent. Lights Out would translate well to a piano and vocal-only performance, perhaps it already does. What remains the most encouraging is the clear sincerity in lottie’s voice and the intimacy of her lyrics, inviting the listener into her world. When’s the album coming out?
Continue reading for our Q&A with lottie. We gain further insight into the writing of Lights Out, and lottie’s production work with Hangi Tavakoli. We also talk about unreleased music, her influences, and lottie’s earlier work in musicals. All this and more below!
Image credit: Adree Chan.
1. 'Lights Out' is your brand-new single - how did the writing come together for this track? Did it start on piano?
Yes! Lights Out started out with me at my piano, playing around with some chord progressions. It sticks out to me because I actually wrote the entire song in one sitting, which is pretty rare for me! I remember that I started with the line “But it’s cold and it’s dark with the lights out”, and the whole song just kind of flowed from there. After about an hour or so of writing I had pretty much the entire song finished and I was really excited about it, so I sent it over to Hangi, my producer, and we decided to start working on it right away. I like to think of it as a ‘pre-breakup’ song, the lyrics are all about the emotions of knowing that a relationship is over, but desperately hanging onto those last shreds of hope. There are feelings of hopelessness, frustration and loss all tangled up inside the song and I really am in love with the production on it too. When the beat kicks in at the pre-hook I always do a little dance!
2. You've been working with Hangi Tavakoli on your music, what's that experience been like? How did you meet originally?
I’m actually lucky enough to say that Hangi has become one of my closest friends, as well as my manager/producer/engineer/general music mentor. I originally reached out to him because I was looking to learn how to produce my own songs and I had stumbled across his label, Flipside. It originally started with him teaching me production, and we were using songs I’d written as demos to help me learn the process. From there we decided to release some tracks and eventually that turned into me working on my debut album! We work incredibly well together and have the best time doing it! It’s a real honour to get to work with someone as talented and cool as him.
3. You recently released your 'Dance With You' EP. If you could pick a song from that EP which best represents your music, which would it be and why?
This is such a tough question! Every song on the EP is completely different so I feel like I could choose any of them, they’re all a separate piece of me. My personal favourite might be “How Does It Feel?”, because it took direct inspiration from poetry and I really feel proud of the way it turned out. I also really love the energy of “Nervous” and I think the bubbly, upbeat side of it reflects me pretty well as a person!
4. Every artist has songs they write and are unlikely to be released, what's a title of one of yours? Why do you think you won't release it?
I have a huuuuuge amount of songs written, some which probably won’t ever see the light of day. A title of one of those is ‘I Miss You’ - I wrote it at a time when the pandemic hit, I was stuck in Singapore and one of my family members had passed away back home. It was more of a song that I wrote for myself, rather than for anyone else to hear. I find songwriting is very cathartic and it helps me get through the harder times in life. I had a lot of emotions, sadness, anger, guilt, frustration, that I just needed to let out and they all bundled up together into this very personal song that I can sometimes listen to to remind me of how far I’ve come.
5. You covered R.E.M.'s 'Daysleeper' for the Twitter #REMtop10. It struck me for being one of the lesser mentioned R.E.M. songs! What do you like about this one?
I think Daysleeper is such a gorgeous song. The chord progressions, time signature and lyrics just all perfectly fit together and I find it almost like a lullaby. What’s so interesting about it is that the lyrics are actually quite sad and despairing but the song itself to me sounds calming. When I was trying to decide which song to cover, it immediately stuck out to me as a song which I resonate with and really appreciate.
6. What other music has had an influence on you? Do R.E.M. count as an influence?
I have so many influences, so R.E.M definitely are included in that! I like to look at a wide variety of music to help inform my own songs. My mum raised me on bands like Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith, and whilst my music doesn’t exactly fit into that genre, I like to think that lyrically I took a lot of influence from some of the more emotional songs in their discographies. I also really love and appreciate artists like Lorde, BANKS and Fiona Apple, and listening to their music has definitely influenced my own a huge amount. I really try to listen to as much as I possibly can because there is so much gorgeous music out there which inspires me, no matter the genre.
7. Going further back, you performed in over twenty musicals when you were younger. Which was your favourite to be a part of? What's a stand-out memory from that time?
I had the most amazing time doing musical theatre and I actually really miss it! I got to play some amazing roles like Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz and Nancy in Oliver!. My favourite has to be the role of Mary Robert in Sister Act. I was just 16 years old and I’d auditioned to be part of my first Amateur Dramatic Society. It was my first time performing with adults instead of the youth shows I’d been in before. I was absolutely terrified at the auditions and I really just expected to have a role in the chorus, so when we got the email that I’d been offered a main role, my mum and I both cried! It was the most insane feeling, performing amongst all of these incredibly talented people in a huge historical theatre in my hometown. I never wanted show week to end and I always look back on it as one of the best experiences of my life!
8. You've certainly travelled around and you're now residing in Singapore. What's been a good place nobody talks about in the guidebooks?
I’ve been super lucky to have travelled as much as I have, my favourite place has to be Switzerland. It is completely surreal, so incredibly beautiful and natural. I’ve never experienced anything like it! There are pretty much no bad places to visit there, but a hidden gem is definitely the little town that I lived in called Zug. I lived above a little pizza restaurant looking over a lake with a view of the alps, I pretty much had to pinch myself every time I looked out of the window! It’s a really historical, beautiful town with lots to see and it is much less visited than some of the cities nearby.
9. 'Lights Out' is the first single from your upcoming album, what more can you tell us about the record?
The album is going to be released later this year, and it has lots of tracks which all bring something different to the table. Lights Out is one of my favourites which is why I wanted it to be the first single! The album deals quite heavily in all the emotions connected to love, and I consciously try to write all of my songs from a lesbian perspective so I can help to make the music that I was looking for when I first came out as gay. I hope that this album can help others to feel less alone in any of their experiences and I am so excited for it to finally be released into the world!
--------
Purchase Lottie’s music on her Bandcamp page here.
Follow Lottie on Facebook @lotties.music.uk, on Instagram @lotties.music and on Twitter @lotties_music.
--------
Follow and interact with Moths and Giraffes on Instagram and Facebook @mothsandgiraffes, and on Twitter @mothsgiraffes.
We now have a Spotify Playlist! Featuring almost every artist we've written about on Moths and Giraffes, find some new music here.
To apply to appear on Moths and Giraffes for yourself or on behalf of an artist, or if you’d just like to send us your thoughts, don’t hesitate to contact us via our social media accounts, our contact page, or via email at mothsandgiraffes@outlook.com. We receive a lot of emails though, so please bear with us!
