Over 15 years after launching Ava Luna, songwriter and producer Carlos Truly recently announced his debut album under his own name, which, in spite of shedding his band’s rotating cast of members, he’s titled Not Mine. Scheduled to arrive July 1 via Bayonet Records, the record does include production credits from Nick Hakim and his brother Tony Seltzer, however each of the record’s 11 songs elicits the image of an introspective Truly recording in a quiet corner of the living room.
In fact on his latest single, “Vessel,” Truly even manages to embody the motionless flora of such a space, tranquilly taking in the sun and employing a passive approach to growth. Instrumentally, the track echoes the psychedelic flourishes of a songwriter like Helado Negro, albeit with a heightened focus on ambiance over groove.
“Spoiler alert, our bodies are all we’ve got,” Truly notes. “I see this as a love song, but not just in that way of being infatuated with someone, but really like, this person has nurtured me, nurtured growth in me. ‘This vessel is a border, a line I can’t cross, til you carry me over, now I’m bathed in sun.’ You could say I’m singing from the POV of a house plant—the perfect example of a beautiful creature who transcends their vessel via acts of love. The vessel in that case is a limitation, but it’s also an invitation, like, is it a weakness to admit that love helps you grow? Even in spaces where you would otherwise wither? I think not!”
Watch the placid lyric video for the track below.
