Luna Shadows is a one in a million artist who manages to shatter expectations of her music every time she releases a new single and around a month ago she did that with her single lowercase, which announced a new era for the LA based songstress. Today however she’s released another captivating piece of music in the form of god.drugs.u. that came about from a single joke her old songwriting mentor used to make.
“One of my songwriting mentors once half-joked: ‘songwriting is just finding new ways to say ‘I love you,'” Shadows elaborating the meaning behind her latest single. “Sometimes, I find that it’s easier to identify what something isn’t rather than describing what it is. god.drugs.u is essentially a process of elimination love song which breaks down my personal experience of love, one which is most often rooted in present moments rather than chemical or spiritual experiences. It isn’t a declaration of what anyone else should feel, it’s simply a personal reflection on my experience of love which is very here & now.”
As per usual Shadows vocal is the focal point with her celestial melancholy voice with a dark edge to it that makes you stop whatever you’re doing and take notice of what you’re listening to. An ominous production adds a more ominous tone to the atmosphere with the deep bass sending vibrations through your body and sonic soundscape that manages to evoke the emotion coming from her voice. The lyricisms of this track are superb with one of the most poignant and almost Oscar Wilde level in terms of poetic nature is, “What they want in god / I found in you / I found a lot / And what they need in drugs / I keep in you / I keep in love.” Honestly there is something so beautifully profound about that lyrics it’s really hard not to get emotionally attached to it.
Then you’ve got the music video which is a celebration of skate culture of LA but taken through a more editorial and fashion styled lens. Shadows explains how the whole idea for the video came into place, “The concept of skateboarding came to mind – a risk-taking, safety-defying sport in which the rider cannot afford to focus on anything other than the present moment – a sentiment that sits comfortably with the lyrics. I’ve loved skateboarding since I was a young girl but always felt excluded from the culture, so this video was an effort to be more inclusive & to showcase one of many versions of femininity which does not conform to the tradition image of skateboarding.”
Everything about this is just beautiful and if you haven’t listened to Luna Shadows before then I highly recommend diving into her back catalogue where you’ll be greet by a wide range of gorgeous pieces of music.
