Tag: The Lovelines

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays The Lovelines Shares Woozy, Reggae-Tinged “Girl”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink on The Lovelines. The duo, which is currently split between Berlin and  Orlando, have been very busy during that same period steady releasing singles that have caught the attention of the blogosphere and elsewhere.

The duo’s latest single “Girl” is anchored around a woozy yet languorous production featuring a reggae-influenced groove, bursts of glistening guitar paired with Tessa D’s soulful, subtly swaggering delivery. “Girl” manages to recall some of the JOVM mainstays earliest material, the new single continues to showcase an act that writes songs with an effortless attention to craft, while being remarkably hooky.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays The Lovelines Take a Gamble on Love

Currently split between Berlin and  Orlando, the JOVM mainstays The Lovelines — the sibling duo of Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and prodution) — have released material from their forthcoming full-length debut single-by-single.

So far, I’ve managed to write about four of the album’s singles:

  • “May Be Love,” a slow-burning torch song-like take on trip hop and neo-soul built around shimmering pedal steel and congo-led percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful vocal expressing an aching longing for love — and to be loved. 

  • “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love?” a breezy pop song built around a looped, shimmering, finger plucked acoustic guitar melody and percussive percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning. On one level, the song views love with a healthy cynicism — but as the band’s Todd Goings explains, “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love is a portrait of the fool in love. Do only fools fall in love or does love make us fools?“

  • “Low Fidelity” is a decidedly jazz pop/pop jazz take on their firmly established trip hop-inspired sound that’s rooted in their penchant for incredibly catchy hooks, dusty, old-school inspired production paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning. 

  • “Darlin’,” a slow-burning torch song that’s one-part neo-soul, one-part old school pop-meets trip hop anchored around a dusty, lo-fi production featuring twinkling Rhodes, boom-bap like drumming and a supple bass line serving as a lush bed for Tessa D’s soulful and yearning crooning.

The album’s latest single “Killing Floor” is a vibey bit of psych-tinged neo soul, rooted in glistening vaguely Eastern sounding guitar, congo-driven percussion, samples of casino games blaring and bleeping serving as a lush yet strangely atmospheric bed for Tessa D’s soulful croon.

“‘Killing Floor’ is about the abstract connection between three subjects: a casino, a slaughterhouse, and life itself,” the band’s Todd Goings explains. “Every one of these places/things is a killing floor in its own sense. The idea is a ‘if the game is rigged and you’re bound to lose, you might as well gamble’ thing… gamble on love, gamble on pursuing a dream, etc.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Lovelines Share Slow-Burning Torch Song “Darlin'”

Over the past year or so, Orlando-based sibling duo and JOVM mainstays The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — have released material from their forthcoming full-length debut, single-by-single.

I’ve managed to write about three of the album’s singles:

  • “May Be Love,” a slow-burning torch song-like take on trip hop and neo-soul built around shimmering pedal steel and congo-led percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful vocal expressing an aching longing for love — and to be loved. 

  • “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love?” a breezy pop song built around a looped, shimmering, finger plucked acoustic guitar melody and percussive percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning. On one level, the song views love with a healthy cynicism — but as the band’s Todd Goings explains, “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love is a portrait of the fool in love. Do only fools fall in love or does love make us fools?“

  • “Low Fidelity” is a decidedly jazz pop/pop jazz take on their firmly established trip hop-inspired sound that’s rooted in their penchant for incredibly catchy hooks, dusty, old-school inspired production paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning. 

The duo’s latest single “Darlin'” is a slow-burning torch song that that’s subtly one-part neo-soul, one-part old school pop-meets trip-hop rooted around a dusty, lo-fi-like production featuring twinkling Rhodes, boom bap-like drumming and a supple baseline serving as a lush bed for Tessa D’s soulful and yearning crooning.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Lovelines Share a Breezy Meditation on Love

Orlando-based sibling duo and JOVM mainstays The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — emerged into the scene with the late 2021 release of their debut single “Strange Kind of Love,” a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul, jazz standadrs and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, wobbly guitars and an infectious, razor sharp hook. 

Over the past year, the Orlando-based JOVM mainstays have released material from their forthcoming full-length debut single-by-single over that period. Last month, the duo shared “May Be Love,” a slow-burning torch song-like take on trip hop and neo-soul built around shimmering pedal steel and congo-led percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful vocal expressing an aching longing for love — and to be loved.

The album’s latest single, the hook-driven “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love?” features a looped, shimmering and finger plucked acoustic, guitar melody and propulsive percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning. On one level, the song views love with a healthy cynicism — but as the band’s Todd Goings explains, “What Kind of Fool Would Want to Fall in Love is a portrait of the fool in love. Do only fools fall in love or does love make us fools?“

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Lovelines Share Slow-Burning and Yearning “May Be Love”

Orlando-based sibling duo and JOVM mainstays The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — emerged into the scene with the late 2021 release of their debut single “Strange Kind of Love,” a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul, jazz standadrs and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, wobbly guitars and an infectious, razor sharp hook. 

Over the past year, the Orlando-based JOVM mainstays have released material from their forthcoming full-length debut single-by-single over that period. Their latest single, “May Be Love,” is a slow-burning torch song take on trip hop and neo-soul built around shimmering pedal steel and congo-led percussion paired with Tessa D’s soulful vocal expressing an aching longing for love — and to be loved. We’ve all been there at some point or another. And we’ll all continue to be there at some point or another, too.

“‘May Be Love’ is a song about love and foolishness. It’s about what a fool love can make you be, but, oh to be a fool in love. You know?” The Lovelines Todd Goings says of the new single.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays The Lovelines Share Sultry “Make Believe”

Orlando-based sibling duo and JOVM mainstays The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — with the late 2021 release of their debut single “Strange Kind of Love,” a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul, jazz standadrs and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, wobbly guitars and an infectious, razor sharp hook. The single eventually rose to #1 on SubmitHub’s Popular Charts.

The Orlando-based duo’s second single, “Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower,” a sultry trip hop-like number with a dusty lo-fi-like production featuring twinkling Rhodes, slashing guitars, propulsive polyrhythm paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning and an infectious hook. “‘Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower’ was written to be free for interpretation,” The Lovelines’ Todd Goings explained to me in an email. “Is it a song about love or is it a song about a literal flower? Is it a song about pessimism, or a song about perversion, or is it a song about both?”

The duo have written and recorded their full-length debut and plan to release it single-by-single over the course of 2022-2023. The album will feature previously released singles “Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower” and “Steadily,” a woozy featuring dusty hip hop-inspired breakbeats, glistening Rhodes, a supple bass line and the duo’s uncanny knack for crafting razor sharp hooks. Tessa D’s sultry vocal floating through the Geoff Barrow-like mix production helped further cement their unique take on trip-hop.

The Lovelines’ first single of 2023, “Make Believe” is a slow-burning and woozy take on trip-hop featuring dusty breakbeats, twinkling keys, shimmering bursts of pedal steel paired with Tessa D’s gorgeous and soulful delivery expressing a mix of longing, desire, desperation and pride. The song focuses on the push and pull of a dysfunctional relationship that can’t quite be escaped.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Orlando’s The Lovelines Share Woozy “Steadily”

Orlando-based sibling duo outfit The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — emerged late last year with their debut single “Strange Kind of Love,” which rose to #1 on SubmitHub’s Popular Charts.

Once you hear “Strange Kind of Love,” you can kind of hear why it took a portion of the blogosphere by storm. “Strange Kind of Love” is a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul, jazz standadrs and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, wobbly guitars and an infectious, razor sharp hook. 

Their second single “Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower” continued in a similar vein as its predecessor: a sultry trip hop-like number with a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, slashing guitars, propulsive polyrhythm paired with Tessa D’s soulful crooning and an infectious hook. “‘Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower’ was written to be free for interpretation,” The Lovelines’ Todd Goings explained to me in an email. “Is it a song about love or is it a song about a literal flower? Is it a song about pessimism, or a song about perversion, or is it a song about both?”

The duo have written and recorded their full-length debut and plan to release it single-by-single over the course of 2022-2023. The album will feature the previously released “Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower” and their latest single, the woozy “Steadily.” “Steadily” sees the Orlando-based duo firmly cementing their sound, a soulful take on trip hop in which Tessa D’s sultry vocals are paired with Geoff Barrow-like productions — in the case of the new single, strummed acoustic guitar, dusty hip hop-like breakbeats, glistening and twinkling Rhodes, a supple bass line and an infectious hook.

Interestingly, much like its predecessors, the new single feels rooted in lived-in experience: “Steadily is a song about a relationship between an old-fashioned romantic and a modern age lover,” the Orlando-based duo explained to me via email. “The singer knows that the modern age lover doesn’t have the same old fashioned ideals about love as her.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Orlando’s The Lovelines’ Sultry New Single

So I royally fucked something up yesterday and realized after I posted something that I confused two different songs by the same artist. We all have off days but that’s — well, something different. I’m really sorry for the confusion. But let’s back to business at hand . . .

Orlando-based sibling duo outfit The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) — emerged late last year with their single “Strange Kind of Love,” which rose to #1 on SubmitHub’s Popular Charts.

Once you hear “Strange Kind of Love,” you can kind of hear why it took a portion of the blogosphere by storm. “Strange Kind of Love” is a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul, jazz standadrs and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, wobbly guitars and an infectious, razor sharp hook. 

“Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower” is a soulful and sultry take on trip hop featuring Tessa D’s soulful crooning paired with a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, buzzing and slashing guitars, propulsive polyrhythm and their uncanny knack for infectious hooks.

“‘Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower’ was written to be free for interpretation,” The Lovelines’ Todd Goings explained to me in an email. “Is it a song about love or is it a song about a literal flower? Is it a song about pessimism, or a song about perversion, or is it a song about both?”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Orlando’s The Lovelines Share a Soulful Take on Trip-Hop

Orlando-based sibling duo outfit The Lovelines — Tessa D (vocals) and Todd Goings (multi-instrumentalist, songwriting and production) emerged late last year with their single “Strange Kind of Love,” which rose to #1 on SubmitHub’s Popular Charts.

Of course, once you hear “Strange Kind of Love,” you can kind of hear why it took a portion of the blogosphere by storm. “Strange Kind of Love” is a slick synthesis of Amy Winehouse-like blue-eyed soul and Dummy-era Portishead-like trip-hop centered around Tessa D’s soulful crooning and a dusty production featuring twinkling Rhodes, slashing and buzzing guitars, propulsive polyrhythm and an infectious, razor sharp hook.

“‘Dark Thoughts About A Pretty Flower’ was written to be free for interpretation,” The Lovelines’ Todd Goings explained to me in an email. “Is it a song about love or is it a song about a literal flower? Is it a song about pessimism, or a song about perversion, or is it a song about both?”