Love Crushed Velvet Talks New Single and Visual for “Blind Emotions”
Love Crushed Velvet was founded in 2008 by lead vocalist and songwriter A.L.X. Over the years, he would be joined by other rock legends, consisting of drummer Thommy Price, guitarist Jimi Bones, and bassist Enzo Penizzotto, forming Love Crushed Velvet’s central recording members. The band would eventually put out their self-titled debut album in 2011, and experience viral popularity with their songs “Letter” and “Goodbye Goldblatt”. A.L.X. has stated that he draws influence from a wide variety of sources and genres, but credits New York City as his most significant muse. Armed with a lifetime’s worth of experience, Love Crushed Velvet continues to embody the spirit of the city’s half-a-century worth of rock music.
Love Crushed Velvet’s latest release, “Blind Emotions”, is a self-reflection of the vulnerability that comes with opening up to one’s significant other. We follow a loose narrative of our main character being unable to distinguish reality from their dreams, which forces them to confront whether or not the qualities they desire in their partner are just projections. The chorus explores what happens when both people in the relationship let their emotions get the better of each other, which ultimately results in fighting and acknowledging the toxic side of any relationship. Taking such an intimate subject matter sung by A.L.X., and combining it with the rhythmic beats that Love Crushed Velvet is known for, what fans get is an absolute banger that can’t help but make them reflect on their relationships.
Love Crushed Velvet is no stranger when it comes to embracing technology and staying ahead of the curve when it comes to experimenting with its visuals. We previously saw the band collaborate with 3D artists at NYU to create the incredibly surreal video for “Ride The Dice”, and their newest work only pushes those boundaries further. Directed by digital artist and director Alena Savchenko, the video for “Blind Emotions” utilizes AI technology to generate even more surreal and uncanny visuals to complement the lucidity of the song’s lyrics. As the track progresses, the scenes become even more detached from reality, and one will find themselves needing to experience the video multiple times to fully comprehend the imagery.
The music video for “Blind Emotion” is stunning. Do you plan on continuing to use AI to create these beautiful visions in the future?
We are going to continue to work with it in some capacity for sure—the evolution of AI in creating all sorts of content is too compelling to not take advantage of, and it is going to be a part of the creative process from this point forward not just for LCV, but for everyone. Alena Savchenko, who made the video, did an amazing job of using currently available AI tools and turning them into a visually engaging narrative. What AI can do today is just the tip of the iceberg, and it’s going to radically change the way we do things. So embrace it or perish. Or embrace it AND perish. Not a great choice, is it? I suppose we’re all fiddling while Rome burns, but the genie is not going back into the bottle.
Love Crushed Velvet weighed in with answers to a few questions about the song and video
Is the song “Blind Emotion” based on a true story?
We attempted to translate the feeling behind the song into something that listeners can relate to rather than basing it on a true story per se. It’s instead more of a reflection of multiple true stories that we all live daily.
What is the number one message that you try to express to your fans in your music with the song “Blind Emotion”?
Be self-aware. Our emotions can mislead us when we allow them to overwhelm our judgment.
What inspired you to create music?
I was heavily influenced by postpunk in general and drawn to its simplicity. I felt I had it in me to write and perform music, I just needed to figure out how to do it. It started with simple ideas and songs, and things grew there. And continue to grow.
What is your musical dream or goal? Sell out a tour? Have one of your songs go #1 on the Billboard Top 100?
To be able to work with top-tier collaborators and have that output be accessible to a broad audience. Having a number 1 song would of course be amazing, but it’s a fleeting moment. I’d much rather have a solid audience around the world that I could play to regularly—that feels much more rooted and lasting.
If you could collaborate with any other music artist in the world, who would it be? And why?
It would be a long list because I naturally gravitate towards collaboration. Would love to write a song with Bono and The Edge because I admire their body of work so much. I’ve always loved Steve Stevens’ guitar playing and listened to the older Billy Idol records countless times as a kid, so it would be fun to see where that collaboration could go. Mark Ronson always manages to make very cool records that are contemporary in their sensibilities yet age well over time—I’d be very curious to hear what having him produce an LCV album would sound like. Writing a song with Neil Diamond would be a study in craftsmanship. Making a song-driven collab with Skrillex could be super interesting. Degenerate alt-country with Jack White? Writing fuzzy dungeon songs with the Kills? I could go on and on with this list.
If you were about to play your music for the first time for someone, what would you tell them to expect?
Polished, song-driven postpunk alt-rock that bridges the retro and the contemporary. Or that’s just aspirational wishful thinking.
What do you have planned for the future in 2024? Any new songs or albums that you are hoping to release soon?
We have a new album dropping in April which I’m excited about—it’s got a lot of songs that I’m proud of and can’t wait to play in from of an audience. We used different collaborators on this album than in the past, so it will have a new flavor to it while still staying true to LCV.
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About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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