Hailing from Iowa in the US, LOVESBLIND are an alt-rock powerhouse that find musical inspiration in everything around them. A five piece outfit that has an uncanny knack for creating hooks that turn first-time listeners into lifetime fans, ‘levitate’ is their most anticipated release yet.
Encompassing the independent creative process, their newest self-produced efforts are focused on bridging the gap between hip-hop and modern pop punk. Out Friday the 13th January 2023, they have drawn influence from trailblazers of vocal-led genres, like new-wave punk and alternative hip-hop. A nostalgic nod to Slaves and Waterparks, the band are also inspired by modern melodic acts; Oliver Francis, Chase Atlantic, Sueco, nothing, nowhere., and iamjakehill. to name a few. Highlighting a developed sound, ‘levitate’ is an exciting point in the evolution of LOVESBLIND’s journey, sharing anecdotes with listeners along the way.
The band writes: ‘levitate’ was written about those who didn't give you the time of day until you "made something" of yourself, and how then those people want to act like you were friends all along. A great example is when someone wants nothing to do with you in high school, sees how well you're doing 5 years later, and wants to "get back in touch". The song is a glorified middle finger to all of those people.
Originally intended as a live intro for an entirely separate song, ‘levitate’ presented itself with the potential to blossom into its own masterpiece. Focusing on a tasteful emphasis of production based verses, the accompaniment showcases the full band choruses which aims to target a broader audience. Looking to diversify their sound, the single showcases their in-house production skills of their home studio, and true grassroot grit in the gnarly face of the COVID19 pandemic.
After releasing their debut single ‘borderlines’ in April 2020 and a "Punk Goes Pop" style cover of blackbear's "chateau" a few months later, LOVESBLIND spent their time in-between lockdowns honing their craft and developing their sonic identity. With the urge to explore more hip-hop structures in their tracks, they took 2022 in their stride with ‘ghost’ ft emerging pop-artist, Kaiyko: This latest release was the first step in bridging the hip-hop gap with their energised alt-pop punk sound. Guaranteed to find a new home in your head, LOVESBLIND and the release of ‘levitate’ prove an exciting one to watch this new year.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself for our readers?
We are a five piece hip-hop/rock band from Southeast Iowa. We started up *right* before COVID, basically right at the beginning of 2020. As a group we draw inspiration from a lot of different genres. Many of us grew up listening to rock and emo music, and are now fans of more pop/hip-hop sounds. So our goal has kind of been to blend these inspirations into songs that we enjoy, and hope that others will as well.
Congratulations on the release! What's the story behind 'levitate'?
"levitate" is about the people who didn't give you the time of day until you start making something of yourself. The second you start finding success, in whatever endeavour it may be, "old friends" seem to come out of the woodwork and want to enter your life again. This song is essentially a middle finger to those people.
Who was a big influence when curating the track?
"levitate" doesn't have any direct influences, but it is a melting pot of the aforementioned genres that we all enjoy. If we want to look at small aspects of the song, you could see some inspiration from artists such as Oliver Francis and Kendrick Lamar.
As we're only just in the New Year, what was your highlight of 2022?
2022 was a great year of growth for us as a band. The highlight would definitely be when we released our single “ghost” along with its music video. It outperformed everything we had done so far, and in a live setting it has instantly become a fan favorite to sing along to.
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
Heading into this year we’ve got a solid plan and schedule for steadily releasing new music/videos, and definitely excited to play some more shows. Any form of content is always exciting to release, and we really feel like we're starting to hit our stride in the process.