Cover Photo:
Olivia Morreale by Nicole Ciancia.
Growing up in a household soundtracked by jazz powerhouses Nancy Wilson, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, Olivia Morreale is no stranger to exquisite taste.
From singing in a choir to touring as a background vocalist, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is ready to take the wheel and emerge as the bright indie-pop star that she is.
Having already released two singles off her upcoming EP SPACE DREAMS, Morreale continues introducing herself as an artist at full throttle. The forthcoming record will—to some extent at least—delve into the singer’s mind and explore her glittery dreamlike world. As Morreale reveals, each song off the 4-track project represents a different type of dream.
“The production and lyrics go a bit off-centre because we were experimenting a lot,” Morreale says. “It resulted in a kind of weird ethereal space world from song to song, so we decided to use that theme.”
Not many know that Morreale is more than just a singer and songwriter—she often dabbles in music production, too. Although she hasn’t released anything she produced fully herself, she’s always keen on learning how to create different melodies and sounds.
“I’m trying to strike the balance between referencing various genres and creating a sound that I genuinely think is interesting,” she says. “Lyrically, I have been trying to say less while maintaining the impact of each idea.”
Taking inspiration from Amy Winehouse, Moses Sumney, Stevie Nicks and many other gifted musicians that, according to the singer, “have found a way to create music that exists within a genre in an innovative and genuine way,” Morreale’s artistry shines through her glamorous ’80s synth-induced soundscapes.
Releasing a fully-conceptualized and thoroughly developed body of work isn’t an easy task. However, that’s what makes it so exciting—there’s no better feeling than to release into the world something you’ve been working for long and hard.
“I really like how each song is its own little world but they’re all connected by an overarching theme,” Morreale admits. “I also loved figuring out the video aspect of the project because, throughout the search, I’ve found a lot of like-minded visual artists who understand what I’m going for in terms of the aesthetic world I want to create as an artist.”
“I definitely feel like I’m still in the stage of needing the advice,” Morreale tells me when asked whether there’s any piece of advice she’d like to give to her younger self. “But I guess I’ve worked over the past little while to have patience and to value quality and authenticity over everything else when it comes to creating art that I want to share with the world.”
Authentic, bold and adventurous—it seems as if SPACE DREAMS is going to be a truly sincere and explosive coming-of-age journey to the stars. Are you ready for the blast-off?
ECHOWAVE MAGAZINE 