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tobey lynn; image by ryan cartee
writer:
aggy kazlauskas
tobey lynn returns with a moving new single
coming-of-age is never as clear-cut as you’d hope, is it? it’s scary, messy, but yet – alongside the unpredictable highs and lows – it’s still irresistibly beautiful. and though that startling beauty may be hard to find at first, for it often disguises itself as the growing pains of adolescence, it soon comes knocking on your door with a slap-in-the-face nostalgia that not only wakes you up, but also teaches you to appreciate what was, what is, and what will be.
for tobey lynn, the present means carefully treading around the line between what was and what is.
last week, the newcomer singer-songwriter dropped ‘twenty something teenage girl’. a deeply introspective song at its core, it came to existence the week after the singer graduated from college – a time she describes as “filled with an absurd, messy collage of emotions.”
the sombre track kicks off with soothing piano soundscapes courtesy of the singer herself. the intstrument’s an important part of her artistry, she claims; it reminds her of the home she grew up in and the familiar peace it’s forever linked to.
“I absolutely love getting to play the piano whenever I come home, because all I have in my LA apartment is a shitty keyboard and my acoustic guitar,” lynn opens up. having made the move to the city of angels in recent years, the six-hour journey back to the bay area now not only brings the singer a chance to revisit an old friend – her mum’s piano – but also offers an opportunity to “tap into a different side” of her songwriter brain.
and while the dreamy piano instrumental softly leads the production of ‘twenty something teenage girl’, promising a comforting sense of tranquility, the song’s lyrics offer a sharply contrasting look into lynn’s world.
“I think since I was processing graduation, growing up, AND facing the nostalgia of being home, these lyrics came so naturally to me,” she reveals.
the singer then adds that she’s extremely proud of both the lyricism in this song and how it captures that feeling of being a twenty-something-girl who wants to hold onto her youth in every way possible.
“I am such a nostalgic and sentimental girl,” lynn explains. listing out everything from birthday cards to fortune cookies and photo clippings. “I hang onto everything whether or not it will have meaning one day,” she then continues.
produced by brett kramer (of the half alive fame) and rachel kramer, ‘twenty something teenage girl’ is a result of sincere, harmonious collaboration. “One of the many things about Brett and Rachel that I absolutely adore is their willingness and openness to try every idea that pops into my head,” lynn comments. “No matter how grand or how stubborn and adamant I may be on trying a particular sound or instrument or vocal layer, they are eager to jump in and experiment.”
one of the standout points throughout the song’s three-and-a-half-minute-long run is its cathartic bridge, offering a grand conclusion to the lead-up that the verses and choruses take you on. “I knew I wanted to take it somewhere big and emotional,” lynn says. “I just wasn’t quite sure how to get there.”
written in the studio with the help of the kramer duo, the bridge is a sonic kaleidoscope of emotion, with its lyrics promising solace to whoever’s listening and, most importantly, the singer’s seventeen-year-old self.
but if lynn were to talk to her younger version, what would she say?
“I’d want her to know that where she was in that moment was exactly right,” the singer suggests. according to her, she spent a big portion of her teenage years chasing false deadlines and wondering when she’d reach specific goals in her career – a strange phenomenon that many artists experience, but shouldn’t really have to go through. lynn then adds that she’d reassure her younger self that “all her dreams are going to come true” and that “she’s on the right track to her glittery, magical popstar fantasy.”
and indeed she is. ‘twenty something teenage girl’ is a solid follow-up to lynn’s comeback single ‘girls’, which came out last month after a two-year creative hiatus.
‘girls’ presents a completely different sound than its successor. among the pulled-back drums and electric guitar riffs that arrive after the halfway mark, the track’s lyrics depict “the juxtaposition of how women are perceived” versus “the reality of what is happening on a more introspective level.”
“Despite the fun and upbeat sound that ‘girls’ possesses, it is actually quite a sad song when you take a magnifying glass to the lyrics,” lynn explains. “I love this song so dearly because I was able to touch on things like eating disorders, female friendships, career-driven anxieties, and all the whirlwind emotions we feel as girls – topics and themes that I haven’t dissected as heavily as others.”
lynn then continues to say that if pairing sombre and serious lyrics with a “poppy, commersialised” beat is what it takes for people to discover her music, well, she believes she’s done her job.
although tobey lynn can’t disclose too many details about what’s next for her, she does mention that she’s hoping to go back into making some new tracks with her older brother this summer, just like she used to do years ago.
“I’m really excited to bring back the big bro-lil sis duo as he helps me produce my sophomore EP,” she affirms. “I can’t spill quite yet when it will be out, as I don’t even know myself, but I know I just want to keep releasing music more and more, and close the long gaps of years that I have previously had between new releases.”
to lynn, “exercising that songwriting and producing muscle” is crucial. and so, she promises her listeners “lots of new sounds” and, perhaps, some new genres you wouldn’t expect from her in the future.
‘twenty something teenage girl’ and ‘girls’ out now.
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