Having just released her latest single ‘Priorities’, alt-pop singer-songwriter L Devine’s new project ‘Near Life Experience: Part 1’ is out now. ‘Priorities’ was premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World, an accolade that was also awarded to her previous single ‘Girls Like Sex’, which subsequently spent four weeks on the Radio 1 playlist.
Having explored the experiences of her generation with songs that focus on LGBTQ+ life, female sex positivity and the impact of social media, ‘Near Life Experience: Part 1’ is overall introspective. L Devine examines issues of self-evaluation, personal mental health, and her identity in relationships. While she has learned a lot, a key discovery is accepting that life is a continuing process of working those things out.
L Devine has already introduced the project with the sex-positive pop adventure of ‘Girls Like Sex’, and the diary-like confessional tale of heartbreak that informed ‘Priorities’, as well as the established fan favourites ‘Naked Alone’ and ‘Don’t Say It’. Elsewhere her collision course of hit-making immediacy and sonic experimentation brings energy and positivity to the project’s new material: the galactic and glitchy ‘Off The Grid’, the intimate and textured ‘Be In Her Bedroom’ which feels like a secret shared between close friends, and the yearning electro-soul nostalgia of ‘Wish That You Saw Me’.
“I wanted to push the boundaries of pop music but at the same time, really hone in on the lyrics on ‘Near Life Experience’”, says L Devine. “The songs are all different moments of heart-searching, whether about my mental health, who I am in a relationship, my expectations as a woman, or whether I’m a good person or not. The title is a play on words of near-death experience. To me, it symbolises all the times I thought I nearly knew what the experience of life meant, only to be proven wrong. And that I definitely do not have it all worked out.”
As well as building momentum ahead of the release of her new projects, L Devine has recently released high profile collabs with Route 94 (‘Sad Songs’) and Tinie Tempah & Torren Foot (‘More Life’), both of which were chosen as Tune of the Week at Radio 1. Winning over fans and artists alike for her honest, boundary-pushing style, L Devine has already amassed 60 million streams to date. She was also honoured by Gay Times, who recognised her as a “future queer icon” by presenting her with the Elevate Emerging Star in Music award.
L Devine was one of the first artists to pioneer virtual shows when lockdown first hit as her URL Tour reached over a million people via socials. She will revisit that concept for a second season of the URL Tour in August to play new material from ‘Near Life Experience: Part 1’ and to preview songs from ‘…Part 2’.
She will then make her long awaited return to touring in a few days when she embarks upon a major UK headline tour, which includes a date at CHALK in Brighton on 6th October 2021.
The dates are:
SEPTEMBER
25th – Liverpool, Arts Club
26th – Newcastle, Riverside
28th – Glasgow, Stereo
29th – Edinburgh, The Caves
OCTOBER
1st – Manchester, The Deaf Institute
2nd – Birmingham, O2 Institute 3
4th – Bristol, Thekla
5th – London, Heaven
6th – Brighton, Chalk
17th – Hull, Central Library
