“I feel like I’ve really connected with U.K. audiences,” Olivia Lunny tells CelebMix as she overlooks the sea at The Great Escape HQ in Brighton.
The Canadian has just had time to grab some fish and chips ahead of playing Patterns at the south coast music festival. It’s her latest venture having spent large parts of the last six months on tour with pop icons Loreen and Ellie Goulding in the U.K.
“I think the fans here go the extra mile to love and support acts even if they aren’t from here,” Olivia adds. “I want to move here!”
It’s no surprise the rising star saw her music resonate with the crowds of those household pop names – as she rattles through her 30-minute set in Brighton, it’s clear the 25-year-old is pressing all the right buttons.
The go-to project for new fans of Lunny, who debuted in 2018, is without doubt last year’s Heartbreak on Repeat and it’s tracks from that bubbling EP that punctuates her Great Escape set.
The singer arrives to the grungy opening tones of that EP’s title track and menacing line of, ‘I would rather be the giver when it comes to pain’. “I resonate with that song right now in my life,” she laughs ahead of her set.
“It’s very badass and empowering and I think I’m at that era in my life. It’s not about being sad about boys, it’s saying I’m going to break your heart. It’s a power song.”
With her set underway, it takes Lunny no time to amp up the energy with ‘Like This’. That collaboration with Bryce Vine is potentially the songwriter’s best release to date, a brain-scratching pop flick that shifts the live show up a gear.
“We wrote the song two or three years ago and it was more of an acoustic ballad,” she explains. “It kind of got lost in the vault then a year later the producer AJ revamped it and made it super uptempo.
“Once we did the revamp of it I really started believing it. Sometimes it takes time and coats of paint for a song to come to life.”
There’s time to squeeze in some older releases at The Great Escape too. ‘Think Of Me’ is delivered with real poise and ‘Sad To See You Happy’ is a heartbreak anthem with a real kick. Elsewhere, ‘The Walls’ showcases the singer at her most intimate.
Before bringing her whistlestop visit to Brighton to an end, Lunny fires up breakthrough hit ‘I Got You’. That track reached fame through Canadian talent show The Launch and is the kind of cheesy yet endearing number that makes for a perfect finale.
“That song doesn’t get old for me” Olivia admits. “I think it’s really uplifting. That song, regardless of your age or anything else, it’s a universal song. I like to leave people with that message of positivity and good vibes.”
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