Rvby My Dear Announce New EP

A story of love, loss, and self-discovery told through five dream-pop-tinged tracks, RVBY MY DEAR's latest EP embodies the musical prowess Gabbi Coenen has spent her entire life nurturing.

Today, we announce the new self-titled EP, out on Spirit House Records November 18th. In celebration, we are releasing the track & video for the first single "Over it."

Gabbi says of the video's inspiration: I'm a huge fan of Madonna's late-90s Ray of Light era, especially the music video for "Frozen", and I'm also very inspired by haunted house stories and old film noir westerns like "The Night of the Hunter", so those were definitely the starting points for the concept of this video. Even though this song has sexy slow-jam vibes musically, I wanted to shoot the video in an abandoned location to symbolize the death of intimacy in a relationship. I had actually gone to university with director Maty Young in Australia (back when he was a jazz pianist) and we reconnected in LA earlier in 2022, so when I reached out to him and Tamiah about my idea, they knew the perfect place, as they had stayed at an AirBnb in Twentynine Palms last year and took note of the abandoned shacks scattered around the area. I had so much fun shooting this video with fellow Aussies in LA - as much as this is a song about very adult themes, I feel like it connects to a lot the influences I've had since I was a child watching music videos on a Saturday morning, so it was great to have those reminders of home while on set.

In "Over It", Coenen highlights the hazards of returning to an unhealthy relationship, with the lyrics "I never learn" capturing that cycle succinctly. "You can blame the other person for all these things, but what did you do that exacerbated that? Why are you making the same choices? Why are you coming back to the same relationship over and over again?" Coenen says. Sonically, the trip-hop-infused track calls to mind the slow-jams of '90s British electronica but the lyrics contrast the downtempo groove of the track, layering it under the story of a protagonist coming to terms with their own destructive behavior. "It's about accepting that it's time to move on, but in that particular situation, I kept going back. I kept wanting to make it work. Even though I'm singing about the experience of being in a relationship with this person, it's not just them. It was never just them."

A captivating listen from start to finish, the EP's intricate beats, thoughtful textures, and existential lyricism set it apart from any traditional collection of pop songs, pulling you in close with its emotional soundscape. As Coenen puts it perfectly, the album "rewards careful listening." Coenen, the multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter behind the noir-pop project, didn't set out to make an EP when she decided to record songs during lockdown. But, as she started playing out ideas on a keyboard in her bedroom and sharing them with producer Andrew Lappin [L'Rain, Chromeo, Big Red Machine], his confidence in their sound encouraged her to complete them. Soon she realized each song not only reflected a new version of her sound but of herself as well, one she was ready to share with the world. "I do view it as a reset in a lot of ways," the Los Angeles-based artist shares. "That's why I chose to make it a self-titled EP."

Originally from Perth, Australia, Coenen's bond with music started at just four years old when her mother put her in piano lessons. It was just a few years later that she picked up the electric bass, ordaining it her instrument of choice. Coenen then attended high school for performing arts, honing her vocal talent by singing in choirs. She continued that education in college, studying jazz voice, first in Australia then at The New School in New York.

"​​That's where I started writing my own music," she remembers, noting how the formative experience helped her create a signature sound. "The vibe at The New School was very experimental: avantgarde noise rock free jazz along with neo-soul and future R&B." The New School is also where the first iteration of RVBY MY DEAR was formed and the band released their debut album, Waiting in 2019. But, after going on tour the band "fell apart." In March of 2020, with her calendar completely clear, thanks to the hiatus from her project and the pandemic, Coenen decided to move closer to her family who was now in Los Angeles.

The songs she wrote during that time, which would ultimately feature on the self-titled EP out November 18, 2022 on Spirit House Records, were not only inspired by the feeling of being alone sparked by the global lockdown, but the recent end of a long-term relationship as well. "It was a very dramatic breakup, just before my birthday," she says. "I was by myself for six months in this apartment and finally getting used to being on my own again, and that informed a lot of what I was writing. Then when the pandemic hit, everyone was alone. Those feelings of being in that relationship coupled with what was going on in the world filtered into the songs. It was the starting point."

Coenen not only wrote each of the songs on the record, but leaned into her wealth of musical experience by playing multiple instruments. "I played all the piano parts, all the bass synth parts, and most of the synth parts," she shares. This was a new experience for Coenen who in the past had been too overwhelmed by the desire to play perfectly to trust her talent.

"With previous records, I was relying on the band, and coming from an academic jazz background, there's a lot of pressure to be the absolute technical best at your instrument," she says. "I had shied away from really owning that side of my musical background because I felt like I wasn't good enough, so it was important to me to play as many of the instruments as I could this time." That acceptance and awareness of self, from the textures and beats that highlight her musicality, to the lyrics that shine a light on the emotional debris she sought to clean up after the collapse of a romantic relationship, can be heard in each track of the self-titled EP.

Coenen's aim is for listeners to find comfort when they hear the spectral-pop songs that feature on her self-titled EP. "When I listen to my favorite songs, they calm me down and put me back in my body," she says. "Whether it's a particular melody or chord progression that I love, it feels like I'm home. It doesn't necessarily have to be a feel-good song, but there's something about it that feels like a warm blanket. I hope my music gives off that same feeling."

Listen to the new single here:

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