We had a chat with Carly Shea about her dreamy new R&B single ‘Lovesick’ and the cinematic inspiration behind it
Have you ever watched or heard something and instantly felt inspired? Well that’s exactly what happened to Carly Shea when watching Meet Joe Black, a film that had an aesthetic and feel to it that the artist found so captivating that it filled her with inspiration and led to the birth of her dreamy new single ‘Lovesick’.
The new track takes the feel of the film and the particular scene and runs with it, making for a track that feels instantly engrossing and powerful, capturing the essence of the scene through her lush harmonies and the soulful, atmospheric allure of the sound. We love this track and the compelling way that it came together, and figured that we should have a chat with the artist about the way that her inspiration manifested itself within the track and her ongoing shift into a style more rooted in an R&B aesthetic.
Hey! We love your new single ‘Lovesick’, what more can you tell us about it?
Hey! Thanks for the kind words. Lovesick is a track I wrote after watching the 1998 film Meet Joe Black; I’d never seen it before and came across a still of the film online— I ended up watching it and fell in love with the dreamlike-aesthetic and actors’ chemistry, and felt moved to put that feeling in a song.
What was the process like putting it together?
It was a pretty smooth + quick process of writing the track. I wrote it shortly after watching the film and thankfully it fit with the instrumental. Sometimes it will take me weeks or months of the back and forth of writing with creative blocks, but I felt so engaged by the story of the film, it was a quick process. From there, I recorded Lovesick with my engineer Lovel whose ear helped me create these dreamy vocal stacks. Instead of writing a bunch of different sections, we did some callbacks to earlier lines in the final chorus to round things out.
What were your biggest influences when creating the track?
My main influence was the film, but musically I think I had been listening to a lot of Sade and Anita Baker at that time. Also, Linda Di Franco’s TV Scene video which is a musical gem— I believe she is a filmmaker now, but her sound has been a big influence my writing.
Do you feel that this track represents a shift in your style?
I feel that ‘Lovesick’ and my previous single ‘Problems’ are definitely representative of a shift in my style. These tracks have been closer to the alternative pop/R&B music I’ve always listened to rather than a more commercial sound which I was attempting to craft but just didn’t work. This style feels a lot more natural to me.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
Lots of new tracks and music videos for the remainder of the year! My next 3 releases have a similar sound and visuals which were shot as a series in LA. They sort of fit into a larger puzzle of tracks which I’m releasing over the next few months, including some collabs and possibly performing here in NYC. We’ll see 🙂
