London-based, Serbian-Canadian artist Dana Gavanski's latest single "Under the Sky" is lithe baroque pop that distills fuzzied feelings of nostalgia. Sometimes memories are like faded Polaroids, a once-lively moment frozen in faded colors and framed by longing. Sometimes you can relive the memories by tapping into all five senses. But what about the ones that are like overexposed photos—the intuition that an event happened, but all the details blurred? That's the bizarre, dreamy nostalgia Gavanski magically taps into.
"Memories that I can't even bring to mind," she sings in the opening moments. Organ-like synths recall Beach House, while Gavanski's heavenly vocals are reminiscent of the poetic delivery of Cate Le Bon or Aldous Harding. The twangy, playful arpeggios and the song's drifting nature make it the perfect soundtrack for staring off into the sky, fingers digging into blades of grass. "Under the Sky" is an intimate waltz that twirls us between Gavanski's wandering thoughts and connection with another.
"I wanted to create something innocent and love-y sounding but also plaintive and questioning," she says of the track, which serves as the second look at her forthcoming album When It Comes. "That hazy way we sometimes feel when looking back at the past and the memories that stick and wonder what ever really happened. Shifting perspectives, waves of emotion, chest full with that bottomless breath."
"Under the Sky" comes with a video directed by Laura Lynn Petrick that was shot on the small Croatian island of Korčula in the Adriatic Sea, where Gavanski goes to visit family. "It’s like walking into the temple of a pious artist, with statues and mosaics, bay leaf, olive and pomegranate trees, and rosemary bushes," Gavanski describes. "Many of the mosaics and sculptures are of Greek deities. There’s a marble hand broken off and hung on the door. A small statue of a goddess in the corner without a head. The bust of a stoic ancient. Latin phrases chiseled into the main dining table (that fits between 10 and 15 people) overlooking the Adriatic. No phones or plastic are allowed at the table and a wooden hammer, as a warning, hangs close by."
When It Comes, which you can pre-order here, is out April 29. Watch "Under the Sky" below.
