“It’s a special thing to be able to exist and float between places or groups of people,” Olivia Reid told American Songwriter. “Understanding that things are temporary in the big picture can bring a sense of peace to the present, where I’m not be afraid to be bold or be myself.”
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And Reid certainly knows a thing or two about being herself. Straddling between several different genres, she occupies an interesting position in the current musical landscape. A new artist quickly on the rise, Reid combines elements of folk, pop and indie to achieve an organic and individualized sound.
On April 3, Reid showed-off this sound in its full glory with a new single, “Visitor,” off her forthcoming debut EP Earth Water, which is due sometime this summer. Featuring folksy acoustics, vibey percussion, Bon Iver-esque saxophones and Reid’s glossy voice, the track is as easy-going as it is captivating, as texturally interesting as it is lyrically interesting.
“I was lacking a sense of belonging,” Reid said, recalling when she wrote the tune. “I started thinking about my body as a ‘home’ for my soul. Yet, even in my own body I still felt like a ‘visitor’ asking around for spiritual directions. That kind of disassociation makes me believe that I belong everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. I’m just a ‘tourist in my own home’ and a ‘visitor in my own body.’ Yet there’s a sense of peace in this existence, because at least ‘I know what I am.’”
Being an alum of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Reid is not only a songwriter and performer but a producer and sound engineer as well. This makes sense when you consider the quality of Reid’s songcraft and the amount of attention paid to the details of production on “Visitor.”
“I usually write alone on a guitar and end up with my most interesting ideas when I really need to express something — when I get excited by the challenge of creating a new metaphor or storyline to convey that specific feeling. I may actually write my best songs for my artist project when I am tired late at night because I tend to let my brain wander, and then I write lyrics that I might otherwise second-guess or criticize.”
Listen to Olivia Reid’s new single “Visitor” below:
