As an artist, leo. gives us a raw interpretation of life, garnering him a loyal fanbase and letting him see a great deal of streaming success. Though his musicianship started with rigorous classical training, his dreamy acoustic songwriting has cemented him as an artist who will tug on your heartstrings.
leo. is once again releasing a relatable, singalong, ukulele anthem in anticipation of his upcoming album ‘A New One’. ‘pretend’ is as gentle in instrumentation as it is hard hitting in emotion, with gorgeous strings, keys and choir-like vocal layers, leo. once again takes us on an elegant journey along a story we’ll all experience. The track lets you float along your own introspection, holding you with a warm feeling.
leo. shares on the release, “‘pretend’ is about a problematic relationship and its spectacularly messy ending. ‘Staying friends’ after a break-up is never a good idea, especially when you keep on doing stuff friends wouldn’t usually do. I remember writing this song on a coach trip during a very uncertain time in my life. I wrote it to try and make sense of my feelings, and to figure out if I could pretend for just a bit longer that I didn’t have all these problems to fix. (I definitely did)
It sounds really fun and I had a blast nailing down the vibe with Ed Allen, the producer. Even though it’s about relatively heavy things, I also wanted to capture how adventurous and fun it can feel to make bad decisions, even when you know they’re gonna mess you up in the future. I hope people can relate.
This is the second track off my upcoming album “a new one”, which is all about processing trauma and learning how to love again after some harmful experiences. ‘pretend’ represents everything that kick-started the work I had to do to unlearn so many negative things—the album begins with me in a really messy place, and with each song, I put more and more pieces back together.
Since writing ‘pretend’, revisiting it so many times to record it, film the music video, and, now, to release it, has really made me appreciate how much I’ve grown, and how much allowing myself to be vulnerable can really help.”