“I love you, but you make me cry,” intones Los Angeles indie pop songstress Elthia in her new single of the same name, premiering below. “I know I should get up and leave / the tears start falling.”
Videos by American Songwriter
“This song was inspired by the pieces of a broken relationship,” Elthia tells American Songwriter. “It’s about trying to reach someone, but they keep putting up their walls, trying to protect themselves, and every time you try to dig a little deeper, it hurts a little more.”
“The message of the song is to tell the story of what it’s like to love something that hurts you every time you try to understand it,” she continues. “I wanted to show the duality of the two ideas that are constantly at war while existing inside of you, and showcase what the breaking point would actually be, if there is one at all. In a lot of ways, this song is inspired by magic, with lines like ‘immersed in your hypnosis, willing to suffocate,’ meaning, ‘I’ll keep obsessing over you, even if I put myself in danger.’ This song is about the obsession, knowing that you’re getting hurt and still wanting to reach out anyway. The hypnosis and spells create an image of otherworldly forces taking over you, and that’s what this love feels like.”
The track is lush and melancholic, pairing Elthia’s silken vocals with bubbling synths and luminescent guitar harmonics. It’s also the LA singer-songwriter and guitarist Eliza Carrington’s debut release as Elthia. Carrington previously performed under her own name, but announced her new moniker last month via Instagram.
“hi! i have made some changes that i would like to talk about with you all,” she wrote in a post. “i will be releasing my first single next month, on october 15th.”
“i have changed my stage name to Elthia,” she continued, “and now my social media handles are @duchesselthia, after my record label, Bad Duchess. My music will now be focused on indie pop instead of classical guitar. all of my classical guitar videos are archived on my tik tok account, which is @elizacarringtonguitar.”
“i love you, but you make me cry” follows the release of Carrington’s debut EP, 2019’s Island of Mine. Check out the first glimpse of her new project below.
“i love you, but you make me cry” is out October 15. You can pre-save it here.
