Lani Renaldo is over it.
Videos by American Songwriter
More specifically, she’s over your love games–so much so that she wrote a song about it.
Today the LA singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist premieres that song–naturally called “Love Games”–via American Songwriter. In the track, Renaldo pairs her slick vocals with groovy guitar licks, vibey synths, and booming electronic beats.
“I know you got a girl, but she ain’t home tonight / Cut the back n forth, saying that you might / I try to tell myself that it’s not wrong its right,” Renaldo sings in a bouncy R&B melody. “To grab up on you, feel up on you / Do you want me or just want the chase / Racing home but then you switch lanes / Girls like you they love games.”
The track slows down and opens up around the 2:30 mark before Renaldo delivers a sensual outro: “I knew you were up to something the second that you started to feel the beat / Bathroom stall, baby, you couldn’t wait so now you’re pressing all up over me.” But this steamy scene is cut with frustration: “Always wanna tease, but you never wanna play / Only wanna get it if it goes your way / Love games, why you gotta play these love games.”
“Overall the message is to not be so hard on yourself,” Renaldo tells American Songwriter of the track. “It’s for 20-year-olds that are transitioning and going through a new phase in their life. Sometimes I feel like I ‘should’ be doing more or that I’m not where I ‘should’ be, but this music is really about accepting where I’m at in the moment and wanting to spread that message to others.”
“Love Games” marks Renaldo’s first release of 2020 and the first glimpse of her forthcoming EP, NOHEARTBREAK2020. Her debut EP, Fake Happy, came out last year, with Renaldo describing it as a mix of “sad bangers, some rock vibes, some R&B vibes and an explanation of growing up through the past couple years of my life.” Still, the alt-pop artist is best known for her feature on Matt DiMona’s “Malibuu,” off his 2016 EP, Up All Night.
Renaldo has cited a range of pop, R&B, and soul inspirations such as BB King, Carole King, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera.
“I think Stevie Wonder is a must,” Renaldo said in an interview last year when asked about her biggest influences. “I love Fleetwood Mac. I think I’ve become more open and receptive to a lot of genres. I’m really influenced by this new wave of hip hop and love people like Juice Wrld and Post Malone. I think that Stevie Wonder and Fleetwood Mac are no brainers because of their lyricism and ability to push musical envelopes. I‘m into Juice Wrld and Posty because they relate to people of all ages on a global level and I’m really inspired to do that with my music.”
Renaldo wrote, produced, and performed “Love Games”–plus the rest of the tracks on NOHEARTBREAK2020–by herself, seemingly following her own advice: “Do what you love, fuck the rest,” she writes on her website. “If it doesn’t serve you, cut it out. Sometimes your truth will not match someone else and that’s ok. Misery isn’t worth the money. Follow your dreams.”
With “Love Games”–a funky alt-pop anthem for anyone who’s romantically fed up–Renaldo does exactly that.
“Love Games” is out now. NOHEARTBREAK2020 is out later this year.
