Blooming good acoustics in LIV LI’s new video

Posted on 12 April, 2019

A few weeks ago, Canberran singer-songwriter LIV LI released a remix of her single, ‘Bloom’.

The track – a lush, layered exploration of dreams set aside and the “proverbial tomorrow” – was remixed by James Yammouni. Now, ‘Bloom’ will be presented to us in its original form. Cue LIV LI’s new acoustic video, which showcases the “haunting, weeping, arresting ballad” in all its stripped-back glory.

Known to many as Amber Nichols, the singer-songwriter’s journey from The Voice to LIV LI predominantly involved a change in music production. As LIV LI, the songstress explained her growing inclinations towards the electronic end of the pop soundscape but stressed her origins as a singer-songwriter. “I’m still very much the same writer. The songs all come from that singer-songwriter place. It’s still storytelling.”

This focus on the rawness of her music brings us to the creation of LIV LI’s new project called The Backyard Sessions. Filmed in her sister’s backyard in Canberra, the sessions provide an organic setting for stripped-back versions of songs to be performed live.

“Most of my songs start on the piano,” she reflects, “so as a performer, it’s nice to take them back to that original sound and re-imagine them in an intimate setting.”

“Someone once told me that if you can’t strip a song back to a single instrument, it’s not a good song. As a songwriter that has always been my approach.”

LIV LI makes it clear that even though she’s fallen in love with the world of production and relishes the chance to add beats and electronic elements to her songs, they all come back to “just a whole lot of feelings written on a piano.”

“To strip the songs right back to their original state and to do that in front of a live audience was just magical.”

The acoustic video for ‘Bloom’ is the first of many to come from The Backyard Sessions. Captured by local Canberra filmmaker Anthony Bowler – who LIV LI admires for his ability to capture things that are “often overlooked” – the video’s contents were carried out in a “little backyard wonderland”.

“I loved his approach to this clip; capturing not only the performance on the night, but the day itself as we welcomed our guests,” she explains.

Transient Park, a Canberra-based production house that brings writers, producers and artists together for collaborations on new-release projects, helped to re-imagine both ‘Bloom’ and another track, ‘Silhouette’.

“I was joined on stage by producer Paul Dal Broi [from Transient Park],” LIV LI explains.

The production house worked with the songstress to strip back the songs and bring them back to the piano, allowing the melodies and lyrics to “really shine”.