New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Lila Drew has released her stunning debut EP, locket (side one) accompanied with an official video for her lead single 'take it back,' out today. What began as journal entries, the shimmering 6 track collection reflects the mind of a teen beyond her years. Whimsical, sultry, self-assured; each song reflects more than the changing moods of a teenage girl.
Like its namesake jewelry piece, locket (side one) reveals an intimate portrait of a young woman at a precipice. "seconds", named after a surrealist film from the 60s, is a thoughtful, raw meditation on urban life and the power of distance, while "nothing," another standout, is an anti-love song-a stripped back interlude that says everything it needs to in 90 seconds. "faded/2am," the track that left Zane Lowe buzzing, calling Lila Drew an "essential artist" when he debuted it on his Beats 1 radio show, is a striking, minimalistic R&B jam, featuring the critically acclaimed American rapper GoldLink and produced by "Mighty Mike" (Lana Del Rey, FKA twigs, Miguel).
The EP captures a multitude of complex emotions, from the dreamy sentimentality of "november" to the empowered dissonance of "take it back" to the jaded sweetness of "hide". It's a fresh collection of bedroom pop, merging a lo-fi aesthetic with sophisticated observations and poetic introspection. Lila Drew's sound embraces intricate elements of indie, R&B, hip-hop, and pop, and is etched with a vulnerability and honesty in her lyrics as if they were plucked right out of her diary. Each track reflects a fully-formed point of view, despite Lila's assertion that her lyrics come from streams of consciousness, dreamed up in her personal space. "Being vulnerable is uncomfortable to me even though there's power in it," she says."I'd rather articulate myself through music and visuals. Somehow, the music escaped my bedroom."
The official video for "take it back" was directed by Chicago-based production company Weird Life Films. Talking about the concept, Lila explains "We were all interested in the idea of finding peace and happiness in solitude and that being alone isn't always lonely." She continues, "We created this story of a girl that wakes up in her home to find that everyone around has left, leaving her completely abandoned. She wanders through the 70s-esque sleepy town looking for signs of life, but the only things that seem to work are old TV's that show me performing the song, kind of encouraging this girl to continue her journey and allow the music to move her."
Lila's debut EP follows the release of her new song, "numb" which was featured on the official soundtrack to the Netflix Original film, 'The Last Summer', streaming now and starring K.J. Apa ("Riverdale"), Maia Mitchell ("The Fosters") and Sosie Bacon ("13 Reasons Why").
Born in London and raised in LA, 18-year-old Lila Drew grew up listening to records with her Dad and soaking up the musical blueprints from both sides of the Atlantic. Their collection spanned decades and genres - classic rock, reggae and 90s hip hop were staples of her music education. "I fell in love with soul music,"she remembers. "I was so enamored with Aretha and Marvin and Otis, those larger than life figures." She began playing piano at four, writing lyrics at eight and recording her own demos on GarageBand at age 10. "The love for it came very organically to me. The moments I used to write in sentences have turned into songs."
Lila's exciting emergence has garnered praise and attention from all corners of the industry, including the team at Roc Nation, an early champion and supporter,who recently signed her to their roster of management clients.
