With the world living in a state of emergency, all love songs have become a reflection of Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.” Fast cars, sharp turns and a wild case of the butterflies are nothing compared to playing an after-hours game of chicken as you swipe right on your next Tinder conquest. Loviet’s latest pop hit, “The Thrill” is about just that, a devastating whirlwind of hormones, the ups and downs of falling in love, and the unintended consequences… though perhaps not in the context of a quarantine.
Recorded in Vancouver and produced by 2020 JUNO Award-nominated Recording Engineer of the Year Ryan Worsley (Dear Rouge, The Treble), the track is all synths and beats and backing vocals being performed by Robin Sparkles’ Omnibot 2000. It’s the embodiment of big-haired power pop, the re-envisioning of a genre the way it was always intended with a V8 engine under the hood and sequins on the upholstery.
“‘The Thrill’ is a fast, driving track, lining up how falling in love can either feel the same as speeding down a highway with someone or driving off a cliff,” says Loviet, which sounds like it could be applied to any occasion we’re going to step out into public this year. 2020 will be a year for unbridled love at first sight; an unrequited yearning conducted at a distance, forbidden and fleeting.
“Oh, know the way we drive, going 95, never gonna die,” sings Loviet, with all the invincible optimism of someone who has received a full course of vaccinations and boosters. It’s a hell of a way to open the song under normal circumstances but quickly gets too real the moment you have to think about gassing up and need to grab that pump handle. The handle that’s been touched by a thousand other people that day, perhaps not entirely unlike your date.
“The Thrill” is the second track off of Loviet upcoming debut EP Everyone Knows The Thrill When It’s Over.