London-based, Canadian born artist Rhi has released her new single "It Was Love" today. Featured on Rhi's upcoming sophomore LP, The Pale Queen, out October 4 via Tru Thoughts, with "It Was Love" Rhi's attention turns to her early exposure to classical music, the impact it has had on her and its ability to evoke the most hidden sides to human nature... "I remember from a young age playing classical piano, I had almost an aversion to major keys. If I was going to learn a song, it had to be a minor key. I always felt more connected to a melancholy song and still do to this day." This powerful emotional intensity - orchestrated by the likes of Rachmanioff, Chopin and Liszt - to create music that is both romantic and beautiful yet tragically sad and almost angry is something that Rhi channels into the dark intensity of the melancholic track as she explores the fine line between love and obsession.
First inspired by the evocative nature of Liszt's "La Lugubre Gondola", the track was originally written under the title "Lugubrious Love"... "I had this image of two people meeting in a kind of haze," Rhi explains. "I wanted it to be dark and melancholy, yet romantic. I used some of my favourite sounds - Rhodes, chime trees and harps - to add light and sparkly to the beat and bassline."
"It Was Love" followed the singles "Plain Jane" and "Swagger", the latter of which was praised by The New York Times in their Playlist column, stating, "Electric piano chords pulse and trickle across a logy beat; Rhi's voice a smoky shrug on the supremely blasé Swagger." The track has been receiving airplay on KCRW in Los Angeles, BBC6 Music and BBC Sounds.
Alongside producers like Noah Shebib, aka '40', for his part in Drakes' If You're Reading This It's Too Late and Burial's emotionally intelligent and atmospheric creations, Rhi has previously cited Arca for his production on FKA Twigs' EP2 as playing an instrumental part in inspiring her self-produced releases. "The music I listen to does of course influence me, especially in terms of my production." Rhi divulges, "I've been listening to a lot of alternative rap and hip-hop since my last release - particularly from the UK scene - and other styles such as chill-hop, trap and phonk as well as lots of beat and bass driven music. I try not to be too deliberate with a song, I just let it come naturally."
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