 |
| Photo via Fuscia's IG |
LA-based Fuscia, the moniker of Rebecca Engelhardt, has shared her debut jazz/R&B infused single 'Tinted Blue'. With her debut album currently in the works, she takes us through the creative process of the single.
I wrote ‘Tinted Blue'… at the beginning of 2018 with my producer, Connor Musarra. Initially, I didn't think "and it's all tinted blue" was going to stick as the chorus, but it was a lyric I kept returning to each time we went to record vocals so it quickly became the refrain.
The story behind ‘Tinted Blue' is… I remember telling Connor I wanted to write a song that was honest and personal as well as reflective about how much I was struggling to let go of the need to be perfect. We talked about self-image and my crippling self-doubt — to say I am my own harshest critic would be a gross understatement — and how the negative self-talk and consistent comparisons I'd make in my head were literally tinting my world view blue.
My favourite lyric is… "Don't recognize myself, reflecting someone else I don't know."
It was made… with all my friends, over the course of several sessions — I OBSESSED over small details and we must have had at least 10 versions before honing in on the final one for this track. The song was born out of some initial chords we plunked out on a Wurlitzer I like to write on at the shared space Connor and I work out of; Connor played drums (and then replayed the drums because, perfectionism! details!). We had a couple of sessions with our mutual friend and my personal favorite bassist, Shareef Addo to lay down a few different versions of the bass line as it exists now in the song, and Dru DeCaro took some time to record some dreamy guitar riffs you hear throughout the track. The song evolved and changed as we continued to add elements and layer sounds, I wanted 'Tinted Blue' to feel like a journey, to always keep the listener guessing where the melody and harmonic changes would lead them.
My main inspiration was… my life! I found myself continually writing songs about unrequited love and a relationship gone wrong and realized I was grappling with something much bigger than a boy who didn't want me — really, I was navigating self-acceptance and how I was going to give myself permission to step into the person I wanted to become. I wanted to write about the ugly parts of that experience — that it does change you and your perception of the world, and that there isn't always some happy resolution, that sometimes all you can do is take a moment and reflect in that "tinted blue" space.
It sounds best when… played loudly, driving in a car, windows down, with friends.
Listen to 'Tinted Blue' by Fuscia:
Follow Fuscia:
