By Keith Walsh
Eva X just released her new single, “Body Talk,” a sultry, slightly downtempo number featuring flavors of trip hop, classic synthpop and future electronica. Like her earlier single “Machine,” there’s allusions to romance. I asked Eva, aka Gaby Gustafson, if this shift from the melancholia of her earlier work is due to her recent marriage to Erik Gustafson, the creator of the song’s video.

She writes: “’Body Talk’ is definitely happier, but every once in a while I do write some happy things. And fear not, there is some prime melancholia on the album! Although yeah, a lot of the time when I write happy things I am thinking about my husband.”

With its darkly confessional opening verse and sexy choruses, for the lyric video, Eva and Erik went for a sci-fi look. Erik explains: “I was thrilled to help with the visuals as she’d wanted some kinda Blade Runner 2049 visuals. So we set up some lights and she nailed the look and we quickly edited the stuff to send off to Orlando Urizar, who did the lyric video part. Love how it came out!” The system test-style overlays and electric glitch effects are lovely features of the production.

Just for fun, I asked if Eva if the previous single “Whipping Girl” presents a more accurate representation of her relationships. “Funny you should mention that!” she writes. “I think ‘Whipping Girl’ was the last of those three songs to be written, and it’s definitely not a depiction of my marriage. I often work from a spark of something real, but generally by the end of the finished song it’s largely down to imagination and what works for the piece.”

Production on ‘Body Talk’ by Eva X, Shane Stephenson and Adam Mah is rich and atmospheric, with intentional warm distortion on the vocals. The bass synth sound on the original mix is outrageously grungy, coming in at in the chorus and main riff. Also included are bell-like synths, vintage machine drums, and sweet pads. The team uses Ableton Live on the recording. There’s a couple of nice remixes by Daddybear and also one by Die Scum Inc, which ups the tempo with dance beats.

As mentioned, Eva’s debut album is in the works.

Eva X On Bandcamp
Eva X On YouTube
Eva X On Twitter
Eva X On Facebook
Eva X On Spotify

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