Stream: Still - Lyves

Long time BlackPlastic.co.uk favourite, Lyves is back with another slice of dramatic soul.

Following a stint supporting Coldplay on their European tour and her 2017 EP Like Water, Lyves is back with new project Eight Rooms. For 2018 the musician, real name Francesca Bergami, is focused on releasing eight new songs over an eight month period. Each song is to be combined with a video from a different director with the aim of exploring human emotion as told through personal narratives.

Describing the series, Francesca says:

“My intent for this series is to unravel emotions that are so often buried. Many of the emotions are representative of healing, and in turn, growing. By bringing them to light, I hope to illustrate how interconnected we are as humans and how universal emotions can be, no matter how different they may seem on the surface.”

The first entry in this series is Still, written by Francesca and produced by JNTHN Stein, and it is exactly the sort of beautiful record fans of the artist will be familiar with. Lyves’ vocals soar over a restrained musical palate that culminates in a beautiful chorus.

Check out Still below:

Written by Lyves & JNTHN STEIN Production, programming and mix by JNTHN STEIN for The Bakery Management Mastered by Dave Kutch Photograph by Alberto Balazs - https://www.albertobalazs.com

Stream: Cover Me - Lyves

Back with her second track in as many months, London-based musician Lyves has just unveiled Cover Me, her follow up to the impressive track Holding Back from last month.

Whilst both deal in Lyves’ trademark spacious and emotive soul, Cover Me forges a path into more electronic territory. The heavily trip-hop inspired piano and whiplash percussion style of Holding Back is absent and instead we have thick layers of gently distorted synths, complete with some subtle vinyl crackle. The press release still likens Cover Me to trip-hop, but this feels like to more future looking of the two tracks. And whilst both songs pack a strong emotional core, Cover Me is particularly brooding... I like them both equally.

Discussing the track Lyves, real name Francesca Bergami, says:

“I wrote ‘Cover Me’ around 3 years ago, but it ended up as a lost, unfinished demo until I came across it again by accident this year while writing in Devon. Hearing it after so long re-ignited how I first felt writing it and led me to finish the song. I feel the song speaks about the tug and pull in relationships - that internal conflict that can arise between wanting stability and security vs independence”.

Check out Cover Me below:

Lyves - 'Cover Me' Written by Lyves Produced by Lyves & Will Night @willnight Mixed by Kevin "KD" Davis Mastered by Sharooz Raoofi Photography by www.katherineneedles.com Follow: Facebook: www.facebook.com/lyvesmusic/ Soundcloud: @lyves Spotify: bit.ly/LyvesMusic Instagram: instagram.com/lyvesmusic Twitter: twitter.com/lyvesmusic Special thanks to PRSF for the support www.prsformusicfoundation.com #FundedbyPRSF

Stream: Holding Back - Lyves

Working under the pseudonym of Lyves, Francesca Bergami is one of the best artists that I've uncovered as a result of running this blog and I can never resist checking out her latest creations. Holding Back is the first track to come from the London based musician since her debut EP Like Water was released earlier this year.

With the trademark Lyves atmospherics and emotive production, Holding Back is a dramatic and overwhelmed piece of music. The piano refrain that meanders through this track pacing like narrative itself, searching for answers. This is a complex, layered piece that builds to it's string laden conclusion.

Describing the track, Francesca says:

“Holding Back is about the realisation that, although time passes, some things can take a little longer to move through… it’s about the process of letting go.”

This is the first of two songs I've heard that are coming from Lyves over the next few weeks and both are beautiful - look out for Cover Me next month.

Lyves - 'Holding Back' Written by Lyves Produced by Lyves with additional production from Will Night https://soundcloud.com/willnight & Crada https://soundcloud.com/crada Mixed & Mastered by Sharooz Raoofi Follow: Facebook: www.facebook.com/lyvesmusic/ Twitter: twitter.com/lyvesmusic Soundcloud: @lyves Spotify: bit.ly/LyvesMusic Instagram: instagram.com/lyvesmusic Special thanks to PRSF for the support www.prsformusicfoundation.com #FundedbyPRSF

Stream: No Love - Lyves

I've covered Australian-Italian artist Lyves quite a few times since she first appeared on BlackPlastic in April 2014 with her debut release Visions.

Lyves, real name Francesca Bergami, is back again with a new track called No Love and it is another slice of dramatic soul. The track is co-produced with Atu and describes a period of heartbreak as it soundtracks the end of a relationship. As usual with Bergami's music, the production is deftly woven within her delicately vocal delivery in order to provide space and emphasis for the lyrics.

More than ever it feels like Lyves is ready for the big time and No Love comes ahead of Lyves' long-awaited debut EP Like Water, due for release in January 2017.

'No Love' Written by Lyves Produced by Lyves & Atu Mastered by Sharooz Raoofi Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyvesmusic/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lyvesmusic Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lyves Spotify: http://bit.ly/LyvesMusic

Stream: Darkest Hour - Lyves

Darkest Hour is the new track from Lyves, her first track in almost a year and the result of a period of four months making music based in Italy.

Since we last heard from Lyves, real name Francesca Bergami, she has left her job in mental health to return to her family's hometown so she could focus on songwriting and production. Moving across her entire bedroom studio in two large suitcases. Bergami set herself up in a small attic space and spent almost every day since writing.

Darkest Hour is the first track to come out of that process, and the first that sees Lyves taking the driving seat on production. It was written by Lyves and produced by Lyves and Crada.