Livingmore “Mysterious Love” Single Review
By Madeleine Mathews
While the unprecedented Pandemic left most of the world inside, stagnant, and yearning for inspiration, LA-based indie rock band Livingmore, took that time to really harness their craft (and boy, are we glad they did).
Livingmore was first created by Southern California natives, Alex Moore (vocals/acoustic guitar), Spencer Livingston (vocals/guitar) (they cleverly titled their group after the pair’s last names) and later joined by bassist Rodrigo Moreno, and drummer, Mike Schadel. They are a highly praised up-and-coming Los Angeles band that can be found filling up the rooms at notable venues like The Echoplex or Moroccan Lounge or touring the globe (when not in the middle of a… you know what). Coming off the cusp of a successful release from their latest full-length high energy rock album, “Take Me”, recorded safely during 2020 and birthed into the world in early 2021, Moore and Livingston wanted a change of pace while keeping their creative juices flowing during a time where motivation and inspiration was hard to find.
Stuck inside, and in need of an outlet after “Take Me” was completed in late 2020, Alex and Spencer felt “pretty restlessly creative” and began fiddling around with a few ideas while homebound. Spencer noted “it’s in both of our natures to continuously create and obsessively perfect our craft.” And thus, their new slower paced and vibey as hell album, “Look”, was born (Out February 2022).
“Mysterious Love”, the debut single off their new album takes us on a journey that we’ve heard snippets of before in Livingmore’s songwriting (that left us wanting more), but with a more laid back and acoustic twist – really allowing the listener to hear the magic of Moore and Livingston’s voices meshed together in perfect harmony.
“It really started as a writing and recording exercise with no real expectations”, says Livingston who produced the album, “We invested in some quality microphones and built a little home studio to experiment with some ideas that we needed to get out. We actually weren’t really planning on releasing any of this stuff at first. At one point we had 6 songs finished and thought maybe we’d put them out as a little EP but as usual we got carried away and just kept recording until we had what felt like a full album’s worth of songs that all seemed to fit together.”
“Mysterious Love” at a glance, seems as though it is about a romantic relationship, when in reality it is about treating others with love and respect. Livingston notes, “Love can be mysterious and evasive and sometimes gets forgotten. I think if everyone could insert a little more love and compassion into their daily lives, the world will be a better place.”
The track begins simply, but catches your ear right from the get go – with a 60’s sounding electric guitar melody, a “reverbed out” tambourine, vibey bassline, and the pair’s haunting vocals melting into each other like sweet sweet sugar tea on a hot Summer’s day. Instantly, the listener is reminded of past legends like The Byrd’s, Mama’s and the Papa’s, and even a hint of The Beatles (in the chorus melody). It should also be noted – If Garden State had a remake, their music supervisor would be a fool to not put this on the Soundtrack. The music supervisor can give us 10% finder’s fee credit, though.
“Mysterious Love” takes everything good from the retro 60’s and modern indie rock/pop and combines them into one beautiful and uniquely “Livingmore” creation. However, Livingston notes that “Since this song is the first single we are releasing off the album, it might give people the impression that it’s mostly an acoustic album but that really isn’t the case at all. It definitely has some of those elements but it still gets loud. Lots of peaks and valleys.” And does it ever have peaks and valleys, but you’ll have to wait for the full sha-bang won’t you?! Lucky us, we got a first listen and we are here to tell you, it’s pure melodic gold.
Putting this intimate record in the right hands was an easy choice. Livingmore sought out Josiah Mazzaschi, of The Cave Studios (Deap Vally, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Sunflower Bean, Rilo Kiley, and more), who had previously mixed “Take Me” during 2020. Livingston added “Josiah Mazzachi mixed the album and really helped us solidify everything.”
Lastly, Livingston mentions both of “Mysterious Love” and their upcoming album, “I think these songs are probably the most intimate recordings we’ve ever made both lyrically and sonically. The idea was to strip everything down musically to bare bones and try to get right to the heart of each song. If we added layers or ear candy of any kind, there had to be an intention behind it and it needed to serve a purpose.”
And you can really hear that in every last bit of their debut single off their yet-to-be-released album, “Mysterious Love”. With the Fall weather upon us (unless you live in LA…sigh), “Mysterious Love” is the perfect song to drive to, with the windows down, the foggy air rolling in, and watching the breeze gently rustle the changing leaves. Livingmore has been a constant on my radar, and it’s a wonderful thing to watch band’s creatively dive into new water, and Livingmore are really really really good at that.
We can’t wait for listener’s to lay their ears on “Mysterious Love”.
