Stream: Lou Roy, ‘Down Since ’07’

Matt Wallock on March 3rd, 2022

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Lou Roy this week dropped the third single off her forthcoming debut album, “Pure Chaos” (due April 29 via Balloon Machine Records), and it’s a steamy slice of alt-pop from “anti-genre” singer-songwriter Caitlin Notey. “I’ve been down since ’07,” Notey sings at the top of the track, “down for whatever, I’ve been down since I met you.” Clocking in at only 97 seconds, “Down Since ’07” is short and sweet, but Notey’s vocals take an anguished, evocative twist towards the end of the song.

“I wrote the opening line for this song years ago and it was originally a much more folky song,” says Notey, who until 2019 made music under the moniker Huxlee. “Although the lyrics morphed as the production changed into a St. Vincent-inspired popscape, it has always been an optimistic and low-key way of expressing admiration and love for several figures in my life that have remained dear to me since 2007. I started this demo in my kitchen, where I have my workstation set up. I was so stoked on the drum sounds and that simple bass line, and wanted to keep the lyrics simple and accessible so people could just vibe out and transplant their own nostalgia onto it — something or someone rad they’d been down for since ’07.

“I think the bridge of this song is my favorite part of this record actually.” she adds. “The lyric is ‘I’ll be seeing you tomorrow / where every bite’s a peach cobbler / have at me in your kitchen corner / have at me in your kitchen, babe,’ and there’s a sweet little bit of a tonic-ization of a new key; tension builds in just the right way to exhale back into a final verse, starting off with that slightly swung hi-hat that had previously been played straight. Sick as shit.”

||| Stream: “Down Since ’07”