Released on EMK through Kartel Music Group, LIV EAST’s latest single ‘So Badly’, is a kaleidoscopic concoction of dance, alt pop, R&B and neo soul, which captures the vibrancy and diversity of her East London roots.
‘So Badly’ is Liv’s second solo release, and the first of many works with South London producer Lokes LDN. The track also features some of London’s best jazz musicians – Benedict Quinn on guitar and Callum Connell (Secret Night Gang) on Saxophone.
“So Badly was born out of a time when I knew I had met someone of importance but the timing just wasn’t right”, explains Liv, “I had to remind myself of the mantra ‘nothing real can truly be threatened’ and step back with grace. I felt parallels with many other situations in my life. We had just come out of a pandemic where we were all forced to surrender to redirection and hold our hands up to the universe. No matter how badly we want something, it won’t always (or rarely ever) pan out the way we want it to. So Badly, for me, is about the art of surrender but still keeping faith”.
For singer songwriter Liv East, allowing life to follow its natural flow is vital. It’s about bending and swerving with the punches and trusting the path that you’re on, confident that in the end, everything turns out exactly as it was supposed to.
Liv’s musical career started off in 2019, working alongside Hackney’s grassroots label Root 73 (also home to the Silhouettes project) with a collaborative hip -hop / neo-soul EP. Then later on that year came the soulful dance track ‘You’re My’ on Defected’s well known disco label Glitterbox – a balmy, summer day anthem that’s just soared past an impressive four million streams. Fast forward to the present day, where it continues to receive support from house music Dons such as Moodymann & Jayda G.
And then there’s ‘I Miss Having Someone To Talk To’ (2020), another dollop of buoyant grooves that’s elevated by Liv’s distinctly fluid delivery. Produced with Folamour and released on his FHUO label, the track currently sits at over seven million streams.
Since life has started to open back up again post pandemic, Liv released her first solo track ‘Kitchen’ which landed heavy support from BBC introducing. Followed by another epic dance collaboration ‘I Need You’ with hugely successful producer duo KOLIDESCOPES via Defected’s latest imprint, The Remedy Project.
Have a listen to Liv’s ‘So Badly’ below…