Stockholm-based Singer/Songwriter Viveka Cousins has been explosive with her latest artistic expressions. Viveka Cousins is truly the type of artist to put adoration and various effects into her music.
Creating elaborate soundscapes with illustrious vocals embedded into them, Viveka Cousins consistently gives out potent energies that are effortlessly picked up by any influential listener.
If you're trying to guess the genre of Viveka Cousins, don't. She experiments with a vast array of categories in order to blend the most appealing aspects of each sound, and her latest track, "When You Met Me," expresses this enigmatic style ever so strongly.
Mysterious and illuminating melodies intertwine together, presenting the harmony that ensues for the rest of the track. Viveka Cousins bolsters her sound by introducing a strong affection that's easily compelling, ultimately drawing listeners in with its hypnotic essence. The narrative of "When You Met Me" ventures along with the transformation that comes with time and the various introspections that inevitably follow suit with such changes.
The productional quality to "When You Met Me" allows the song to capture this kind of quality that is purposeful and slightly haunting--two characteristics that only add to the song's poise and spirit.
For the most part, Viveka Cousins remains relaxed within the track, creating a great juxtaposition between theme and imparted ambiance. With flavourful expressions and even more personable storylines, "When You Met Me" proves to be a song with desire, as well as pinpointed direction. It's safe to say we're left in good spirits after listening to the harmonious voice of Viveka Cousins.
What do you feel was the most challenging aspect of writing and recording "When You Met Me", especially in comparison to other tracks you've released in the past?
I think the most challenging aspect when writing “When You Met Me”, was trying to capture the mood and tone I wanted without writing in the shadow of my last song “Easy Fix”. I wanted “When You Met Me” to be a little more spicy or risky. I wanted to play into a different type of energy and letting myself do that felt like part of the challenge.
Would you say that "When You Met Me" was a song directed to a specific memory/individual?
I would say that “When You Met Me” is not about one person or memory but about a combination of experiences. Although anyone can envision their own version of the story from the lyrics, for me, it revolved around the anxiety of being intimate with someone too soon. I’ve thought a lot about the idea of exposing yourself to someone vulnerably when you know you aren’t in the best place to receive them. It's about giving in to your desires even when you’re not feeling like the most “stable” version of yourself.
As an artist with a lot of depth to her sound, how would you describe the way you go about manifesting these collections of narratives and sound within your music?
The people closest to me definitely know that I’m one to internalize many and most situations or experiences in my life. Not in a negative way necessarily, I think I just want so badly to understand where my feelings come from and what they look like. I think turning the exploration of how I’m feeling into song lyrics makes the most sense to me. Constructing the narratives and then figuring out the tone for the songs comes from a place of me trying to uncover and then communicate my feelings about a moment. Even in my everyday life though I’m always trying to work out past and present feelings.
As an artist who began in Los Angeles and ventured out to Stockholm, how would you describe the main differences within the music scenes? What about Stockholm inspires you the most to create music?
Since I started publicly sharing my music right at the break of the pandemic, I haven’t had much of a chance to explore either the LA or Stockholm music scene yet. I think the pandemic and all of the intensities that came with it kept me from engaging in a “scene” right away, but I’m hoping that will change in the near future!
2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone. What has been keeping you inspired to create music? What advice can you give another artist who's finding it difficult to do so?
I think for me personally, it was because of how challenging 2020 has been that I started to write more and share music. I don’t think that I would have had much time to be with myself and alone with my thoughts so intensely otherwise. It inspired me to investigate what makes me the happiest when everything else in my life had paused. I’m not sure that I’m in a position to be giving out advice just yet! But overall, I try to remind myself to have self-compassion and to be patient with my writing and ideas. I don’t always follow my own advice but when I do take the time to be patient with myself and figure out what I’m trying to communicate, the words come across as more full-bodied and honest. In the end, I hope that comes across to a listener.