Catchy and cathartic indie pop comes to life on Little Fuss’ irresistible EP ‘Lovely Distraction,’ a sweet n’ sour set of four fresh introvert anthems that urge us to break out of our shells in the best way possible.
Stream: “Lovely Distraction” – Little Fuss
Be my lovely distraction – send my brain to the moon, why don’t you just steal my focus away?
True to its name, Little Fuss’ Lovely Distraction is a welcome escape and indulgence all in one.
High in energy and full of passion, the Boston band’s new EP is unrelenting, uncompromising, and utterly exhilarating – a radiant four-track undertaking that demands listeners’ undivided attention the whole way through. It’s a tight, high-octane four-track set: The kind that gets your blood pumping and your feet moving in seconds, and has you singing along to the chorus in just a few minutes. Little Fuss invite us to bask in their bold melodies and compelling lyrics as they unleash four of their favorite live songs for the first time on record. Catchy and cathartic indie pop comes to life on the irresistible Lovely Distraction, a set of four introvert anthems that urge us to break out of our shells in the best way possible.
I was trying to pull myself
along the haze my typical ways
You were dying to tell me I was wrong in case
The letters all faded to blue
What’s it matter to you
I’m Miss Living with the Best Intentions
I’m sick of overrated second-guessing
I’ve been lying on the phone to you
When I say “I love you too”
– “What’s It Matter to You,” Little Fuss
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Little Fuss’ Lovely Distraction, independently out August 4, 2023. Arriving just six months after this past January’s highly lauded debut album Girls at Parties, this new EP further highlights the undeniable talents of Olive Martinez, Cody Von Lehmden, Delia Martin, and Vitor Oliveira.
This is not the first time Little Fuss of have made a big impact; the band’s debut EP Hazy, released in 2021, proved an “effortlessly evocative and compelling introduction” to the then-duo of vocalist Martinez and multi-instrumentalist Von Lehmden. Atwood Magazine had the pleasure of premiering that record as well, calling it “a series of four glistening and groovy emotional upheavals” and “a radiant indie pop outpouring that magnifies the intimate space of an introverted mind.”
The band’s growth over the past two years cannot be understated; beyond doubling in membership, Little Fuss’ sound has grown in depth and dynamic strength. The band sound tighter than ever, and their four newest songs highlight their own confidence and self-assuredness at carrying out these self-described “introvert anthems” from start to finish.
It helps that they’ve also been playing these tunes for a few years now; it’s that much easier to capture a song on record when you’ve already finessed it on stage.
“Before releasing Girls at Parties, we had to put a number of already written songs on hold because they didn’t fit into the concept of the album,” Olive Martinez tells Atwood Magazine. It’s worth noting here that Girls at Parties was a concept album, whose songs “told the stories and explored the experiences of nine apprehensive interconnected characters navigating various social settings, and confronted themes of sexism, social anxiety, and other matters concerning mental health and sociology.”
Lovely Distraction‘s four tracks continue to explore the nuances of interpersonal relationships, but they don’t follow the same narrative as the band’s album and hence make more sense here than on the previous LP. “Since we love playing those songs live, we wanted to record them from scratch, and give them a new life on Lovely Distraction,’ taking additional influence from our more recent inspirations,” Martinez explains.
The end result is as energizing as it is immersive: From the sleek seduction of “I Know Exactly” and the heated, smile-inducing reverie of “Hypothetical Girl” to the cool strut of “What’s It Matter to You” and the captivating churn of “Lovely Distraction,” Little Fuss ensure we come away with not one, but four new favorite songs.
The record’s singles – “Hypothetical Girl” and “What’s It Matter to You” – have been especially well received since their respective releases. Both tracks highlight the band’s ability to inject intimate emotions and subtle nuance into a larger-than-life performance, with Martinez’s vocals serving as the glue to bring everything together. Her spectacularly charged delivery in “Hypothetical Girl” is especially memorable:
I’m just a daydream
A figment of your imagination
I’ll keep you guessing
At least I think that’s the expectation
I’ll be your hypothetical girl
In your manic pixie dream world
And all the boys will ask you how the game is played
Tonight I’ll take you on a play date
I’ll make it feel like a Friday
Something gold and gone before your mind can change
– “Hypothetical Girl,” Little Fuss
“‘Hypothetical Girl’ is a sarcastic attempt to liberate the manic pixie dream girl, both as a literary trope and in real life,” Martinez explains. “As a woman, you are constantly being put in boxes, and rarely seen as a fully complex human. One of the most annoying boxes is when men put you on a pedestal of affection without getting to know you at all. When someone romanticizes or sexualizes the idea of a woman, it makes it more difficult for her to be taken seriously as anything more than that. Besides, it can be very uncomfortable and even creepy for someone who doesn’t know you to become infatuated with the version of you they made up in their head.”
“Hopefully people understand the irony in the chorus of “Hypothetical Girl,” and find the true meaning of the song in the bridge when it says, “I’m just a daydream, a figment of your imagination.” Women are not ideas or hypotheticals; they are independent and fully complex people.”
Ultimately, Lovely Distraction reminds us why we fell for Little Fuss in the first place.
Their cinematic indie pop songs are full of substance, making it that much more fun to sing along.
“As a band, this EP has several fun benchmarks for us,” Martinez says. “‘Lovely Distraction’ is the first song that Cody and I wrote together, and this EP is the first release that we have come together as a four-piece to record. We hope that this is the kind of record that listeners can put on in their bedroom and have a good time dancing around or just vibing out to our retro take on pop songs.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Little Fuss’ Lovely Distraction EP with Atwood Magazine as the band take us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of their latest release!
Lovely Distraction is out everywhere August 4.
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:: stream/purchase Lovely Distraction here ::
:: connect with Little Fuss here ::
Stream: “Lovely Distraction” – Little Fuss
:: Inside Lovely Distraction ::
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I Know Exactly
“I Know Exactly” is about breaking free from a toxic cycle in a relationship. When Cody showed me his idea for the instrumentals of this song, I had just had a terrible argument with someone after spending years trying to compromise with them in order to keep them happy. Arguing has always bothered me because reason doesn’t matter so much as who yells louder and gets the last word, which seems pointless to me. I think these lyrics helped me find a way to express my side of the argument in a somewhat logical way that made my feelings make more sense to me. It is a very honest interpretation of the effects of psychological abuse, and was helpful in allowing me to put myself first. Maybe it can help some listeners do the same.
Hypothetical Girl
This song is a sarcastic attempt to liberate the manic pixie dream girl, both as a literary trope and in real life. As a woman, you are constantly being put in boxes, and rarely seen as a fully complex human. One of the most annoying boxes is when men put you on a pedestal of affection without getting to know you at all. When someone romanticizes or sexualizes the idea of a woman, it makes it more difficult for her to be taken seriously as anything more than that. Besides, it can be very uncomfortable and even creepy for someone who doesn’t know you to become infatuated with the version of you they made up in their head. Hopefully people understand the irony in the chorus of “Hypothetical Girl,” and find the true meaning of the song in the bridge when it says, “I’m just a daydream, a figment of your imagination.” Women are not ideas or hypotheticals, they are independent and fully complex people.
What’s It Matter to You
We wanted to have fun drawing from some of our ’60s influences like The Zombies and The Doors for this song. The lyrics are pretty abstract and very imaginary, as I wrote them years ago, before ever being in a real relationship of my own. I just wanted the narrator to have this breakthrough moment of independence, realizing that her relationship kind of sucks, but that she didn’t really care about it anyways. She is someone who has always lived with the “best intentions,” by being a good girlfriend and doing what she figured was expected of her. In the song, she simply loses patience in this lifestyle and decides to be honest about the fact that she was never even in love to begin with. Overall, it’s just a fun song that’s not meant to be taken too seriously.
Lovely Distraction
“Lovely Distraction,” is sort of the antithesis to “I Know Exactly,” which makes it a perfect bookend for the last song on the EP. It is about the feeling of losing all logic and reason after meeting someone new and exciting who you can’t stop thinking about. It’s a song about the butterflies you get in your stomach and the feverish inability to concentrate on anything other than your new crush. We wanted to end the EP on a positive note because… love is awesome! Why not? You know?
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:: stream/purchase Lovely Distraction here ::
:: connect with Little Fuss here ::
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© Caleb Whelan
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