Liv Austen is currently one of the most promising country music stars in the UK. The Norwegian-born singer has been making waves performing at country music festivals all over the UK throughout the last 18 months. Following the pop/country trend of the new wave of rising young artists such as Taylor Swift, Danielle Bradbery, and Ward Thomas, Liv’s uptempo songs straddle both traditional and the mainstream. Liv’s debut album A Moment of Your Time is to be released on October 19 via NUA Entertainment, and the album showcases Liv’s unique ability to create lyrically meaningful yet musically exciting tracks. We have spoken with the singer about her album, stage fright, and the messages behind her songs.
Your debut album A Moment Of Your Time is released next month, what can you tell us about it?
I have worked so hard on this album for the last two years. Being a music fan my whole life, releasing a full-length album has been the ultimate goal – and I am so proud this is finally happening. The songs on the album are very honest, very personal to me, and I believe that in honesty there will always be a lot of universal truths. My fans who have heard the songs live have connected with them on a really deep level. I try to keep it fun at the same time though, and write songs that are catchy and have lovely, fun hooks in them – I don’t think enjoyable and deep are mutually exclusive. The album has Scandi pop, UK singer/songwriter, and Nashville country elements all mashed together in a way that I believe is unique to me. I also co-produced the album, which is a big deal to me.
Do you have a favourite song on your album?
I keep changing my mind on this, but I think my favourite is a song called Want It More (track 4 on the album). I wrote this one on my own, and it is pretty daring lyrically. I remember writing it when I was in the middle of the situation the song is about, which can be quite hard sometimes. I love the sound of it as a recorded track too.
Your newest single Window Shopping is out now and there is a deeper message behind its catchy melody. What inspired the song?
I wrote this with my friend and co-writer Kaity Rae. We bonded over how sad we think it is that people are so extremely focused on looks and superficial things. In a world where we shop online, we are constantly bombarded with edited photos on social media and we use dating apps, it can almost feel like we get into the habit of “browsing for people”, like we are window shopping, rather than having a real connection with people. Window Shopping is a song which encourages that real connection instead!
You have previously spoken about your stage fright – what helped you overcome it?
Just like I used to hear and never believe when I was at my worst with the stage fright; the only thing that can get you to overcome a fear like that is to do it anyway. “Feel the fear and do it anyway!” The longer I stayed away from it, the harder it got and the more unlikely it seemed that I would ever go on stage again. I finally got pretty much tricked into singing solo at an event, and just seeing that it didn’t kill me helped! Ever since I’ve tried to go easy on myself. My rule is; I can get nervous, I can mess up, I just can’t back out. That’s the only rule. Building my confidence and self-love, in general, has also definitely helped. If you feel like you matter and your voice deserves to be heard, it’s definitely a hundred times easier to overcome that kind of fear.
Are there any messages you want listeners to take away from your songs?
I hope that my songs mean something to whoever listens to them; whether they mean exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote them or something slightly different, doesn’t really matter to me. The main messages in my songs are about self-love, valuing and respecting yourself, and to try to be honest to the world and yourself about what’s going on – to let yourself be both vulnerable and strong.
What can people expect from you in the future?
A lot of live shows, hopefully in many places around the world, that’s the top priority now that the album is coming out. There will definitely be a tour. There will also be more music in the future, no doubt!
Liv Austen’s debut album A Moment of Your Time is available on October 19.