For a song about social anxiety, Sea Lemon’s latest single feels remarkably carefree. “Stop seeing me like that / Wish I’d go away,” Natalie Lew sings on “Turn Away,” which finds the Seattle-based songwriter worrying about how others view her. “Do I seem too sad / To make you wanna stay? / Over and over again pretend to save my face / When you look at me I turn away."
“[Over] the last few years it’s been less and less common to meet new people, which has made the event of meeting someone an opportunity to overthink: Do they like me? Did I seem cool, relaxed?” says Lew. “I’ve struggled with that worry, coupled with wondering: Am I just thinking of them, or are they thinking about how I see them too?”
Lew continues: “The line ‘Whenever I end up at home after being out late / I wonder who else has to know that I’m in a new state’ in the second verse really embodies the intention of the song, where I’m asking something to the effect of: How important is it that people know what I’m doing? Is it better to be perceived, or not thought of at all? ‘Turn Away’ is an unleashing of these feelings, and putting pen to paper came quickly with this song.”
“Turn Away” is only Sea Lemon’s third single to date, following “Sunday” and “Fortune Teller,” and it’s another DIY dream-pop gem from the Spirit Goth signee. Lew teamed up with Stefan Mac to produce the track, with Mac also mixing and mastering. Now Lew is prepping her debut EP and getting ready to open for fellow jangle-pop favorites Ducks Ltd. later this month. Until then, check out Lew's video for “Turn Away” below, and pre-save the song here.
