LA-based artist and producer Luna Shadows releases haunting, introspective single and video, ‘Witches’ Brew’
Co-producer and touring member for The Naked and Famous, LA-based Luna Shadows is an artist, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with an undeniable track-record of releasing her own, critically-acclaimed, indie-pop gold. Today she releases her first single and video of her latest project: the haunting, introspective track Witches’ Brew.
Listen to Witches’ Brew HERE
Melancholic, indie folk pop with soaring strings and emotive lyricism, Witches’ Brew is a diary entry from rock bottom, a soundtrack companion to what Shadows describes an “insurmountable depressive episode.”
“Witches’ Brew is from a moment where I felt like I would never again have the capacity to experience joy, like I would never again see the sun, ”reflects Shadows. “Specifically, in my case, from a time where I was coping with premenstrual anxiety/depression, known as PMDD. While I’m in it, I imagine the feeling will go on forever – until the light slowly appears, and I recognize that this darkness is part of a cycle that will eventually come to a close.”
Produced in collaboration with collaborator Bradley Hale (Now, Now), Witches’ Brew was the first song to be written over Zoom following the onset of the pandemic.
“The first glimpses of my new album came to me when I was living in New Zealand for several months during the early pandemic. My emerging vision became clearer after quiet, solo walks along the shores of Brown’s Bay. Each day, I took field recordings of the water while staring up at the glowing lights on the cliffs. I walked around the empty streets, looking into the windows of all the ghostly shops enduring sudden vacancies, absorbing the ambiance of the coast. I really immersed myself in that solitude. Everything felt a bit haunted. The first demos for this record were produced immediately following those walks, in headphones at a kitchen table in Auckland. I saw an opportunity for a more extensive reflection, and I wanted to mirror that with the productions – so there I began exploring a juxtaposition of subtle electronic elements with more intimate, singer/songwriter lyricism.”
Initially skeptical about the process, Shadow’s found it to be an amazing experience, continuing “I don’t know that I would have been able to write this song with anyone in the room; something about working in my own space completely alone opened a door for the song’s vulnerability.”
Also out today is the accompanying video; a work of art, creativity and intention, the visuals were directed and produced by Luna Shadows herself alongside a team of local creatives in LA. Paying homage to classic witch, Halloween and Sci-fi films, the video also explores deep introspective meaning in conjunction with the music.
“In the video, “witch” and “artist” are synonymous, as “music” and “magic” are used interchangeably,” says Shadows. “It’s a metaphor for the creative process, how it can unintentionally inspire self-doubt and fear, despite a strong connection to artistic identity.”
“I created the props, such as the cauldron and books – all by hand. This video was a massive undertaking and a real labor of love – ironically, my experience of self-doubt really ran parallel to the witch character version of myself in the video, as I went through many moments of uncertainty and artistic doubt as I created it.”
Watch the video HERE
Luna Shadows writes and produces out of her bedroom in LA; each song: a layered and thoughtful production, and wholly her own. Emerging in 2016,Billboardcalled her debut “Some of the most refreshingly soulful and haunting indie pop to come out this year.” She rapidly captured the attention of the alternative scene with early single ‘Hallelujah California’, which rose to#8onSpotify’s US Viral Chart, and her catalog has since independently achieved50 million streams across platforms.
She has since released her critically-acclaimed debut EPs Summertime and Youth, and in 2021, her long anticipated debut LP Digital Pacific was released by +1 Records/Empire, energizing hundreds of thousands of fans. With notable press from Nylon, W Magazine, Paper, and LA Weekly, she’s gone on to collaborate with alternative acts like Meg Myers, The Naked & Famous, and RAC.
Today’s single is Luna Shadows as personal as we’ve ever seen her, and at the top of her game. It gives a taste of what’s to come: her vision is clear, nostalgic and as satisfying as a full moon.
