Stella Lovell – “Lonely”
Photo by Fiona Grace
Salt Lake City-born, Seattle-based Stella Lovell has just released “Lonely,” the closing track to her debut self-titled EP.
Lovell’s new single “Lonely” is a steady, dreamy jaunt through loss and heartache, pushed forward by slow-hitting momentum and shimmering layers of interwoven guitar melodies. Deep bass pours the melancholic foundation beneath the track, and for a song rooted in grief, there’s still more than enough groove here to get your foot tapping.
After a few bars, Lovell introduces a vocal performance full of the same emotional inflection that makes artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker so easy to fall for. Balancing bursts into the upper register with near-whispered line endings, Lovell had us hooked within the first thirty seconds. Between verses, a string section arrives, adding a sweeping sense of ebb and flow to an already lush arrangement.
Lovell claims “Lonely” has gone through many variations over the years, but that she couldn’t be happier with this final rendition: “I was lucky enough to have Greg Leisz who has played on thousands of amazing artists’ projects, such as Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Lana Del Rey, Jackson Browne, and so on, to play pedal steel on this track. It was a song I wrote through grief and heartbreak, but it has now become a golden light on this record.”
We were not provided any lyrics, but it’s still impossible not to get hung up on lines like “I still sleep six feet from your grave.” The emotional weight in “Lonely” is nearly unbearable at times, allowing it to mirror the perils of daily life with eerie precision. For a track that clocks in at nearly five minutes, it leaves listeners with just enough time to sob in the car before heading back to work.
Connect with Stella Lovell: Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Catch this tune in our Phoebe Bridgers Vibes playlist: