WWhen Luvcat fans first heard snippets of “He’s My Man,” they seized on its deeply romantic overtures and edited videos of their partners with the waltz tune echoing over moony-eyed montages. It wasn’t until the song was released in its entirety that fans realized it was a murder ballad, complete with poisoning: “He wakes up, headache, his tea tastes funny / I want him to stay here forever / He’s the happiest with me.»
It’s the kind of sleight of hand that’s at the heart of Luvcat’s music: deeply nostalgic and equally twisted. With just three songs released, her sound has resonated with a fanatical TikTok audience raised on My Chemical Romance videos and Tim Burton films, just like the musician herself. Today she sits with ZikNation in Camden’s Hawley Arms, resembling Alice in Wonderland through Bridgette Bardot: “I’ve always been obsessed with gothic and fanciful imagery and the slightly strange and surreal. »
This dream element is married with just enough confessional writing that people regularly ask after showing if his stories are real. “I just want to invite people to experience it,” she explains. “I could tell you very literally what each line is about. But maybe that would spoil the fun a little…”
So far, the songs have been littered with references to the same mythical man, lamenting his cruelty on “Matador” and proclaiming that Luvcat belongs in his arms on the recent “Dinner at Brasserie Zedel.” “I’m just drawn to Hellraisers, that’s why it comes up in the songs,” she smiles. “The first time I came here, I walked in and there was a guy swinging from the chandelier at the top of the bar, screaming his head off to ‘Fairy Tale of New York.’ All my friends were terrified and I was like, “I’m going to marry this man.”
Even if it sounds like Luvcat and his romantic ideals (“ big, dark and disgusting“) arrived strangely fully formed, she is quick to credit the years she and her band spent “busting their guts out on various stages.” “None of this would have happened without it, because what helped us along the way were the videos of us performing live,” she explains. “There was never any premeditated content, it was actual videos of us going out, having fun and causing trouble. I’m really grateful that we were featured on some of these shows – people just took a risk.
It’s been a big year for you. Were there any smaller, inconsequential moments that seemed important to you?
“Something funny happened a few days ago, which may seem silly to some people, but we were rehearsing for the upcoming tour, and I could only afford a two-hour rehearsal with the boys. And it was the first time we spent six hours in a rehearsal room, and I didn’t have to sit at the door, because obviously they have people who take care of that now.
“We used to rehearse – it’s really great – but it was in an old public toilet in Kentish Town. I’m not criticizing him, but I suddenly felt like, “Oh my God, we’re actually making progress, because now we can rehearse.” “I have the privilege of playing longer with the boys, that’s all I really want to do.
“There is a lot of heartache and a lot of courage in what I write, but it goes hand in hand with wrongdoing”
There is a certain level of wealth and glamor at the heart of Luvcat, where does that come from?
“Maybe from Liverpool. It’s a very glamorous central city, which I love. My mother had a hair and beauty salon, so I guess it was always in the family, putting on our lips and doing our hair big. And a lot of time spent in Paris as a young adult seeped into music. I love French culture. I’m just obsessed. It’s definitely up my street.
“I love dressing up for a show. And playing in pubs, I would do that a bit, but it’s hard to do in the toilets. But now we’re playing nicer venues, so I can actually dress up for it, and it’s so much fun. And the boys are in costumes. They have these great velvet suits with dark red trim, but they hate them because they’re too sexy on stage. But I’m like, “But you’re all so beautiful, you have to do it.” »
With all of this happening so quickly, what is the one thing you want to keep?
“The playfulness of it all, because I don’t want to take it too seriously. Yes, there’s a lot of heartache and a lot of courage in what I write, but it’s matched with mischief and fun and it’s not too heavy. My lyrics are about real things that happened, but sometimes I dress them up in metaphor, or paint a strange picture with it. But they are almost all very real and true stories.
Do you think toeing that line and maintaining a certain level of mystery is why fans are so desperate for a full album?
“There is always room to discover more things. I think it’s all in me, I discover and bring out certain things slowly and when the time is right. I get a lot of questions about “when are you releasing an album?” ”, and it’s obviously something I’m dying to do. It’s great that people are hungry for it, you just have to make sure the art is right, and then we work as fast as we can to get it all out and keep feeding it.
“I hope that by next year there will be more important work. I’m not here for anything other than to be able to hit the road and make an album. I want to do something outrageous for the cover – I can’t say it here, because I haven’t completely decided it in my head yet, but I want to do something wicked.
Aside from an album, is there anything else out there?
“We’re going to Tokyo in January for a show, and I think we should film while we’re there. We have my best friend with us, Barnaby, who is an amazing photographer and videographer, and I just want him to film everything. All the struggles, all the ups and downs. Because I think this year it will never happen again and everything is new.
“I wish I could look back and document it all and how it all felt. Even last month a lot happened, I don’t remember half of it, there were so many cool things. I love these documentaries about life on the road – Dig! is one of my favorites, so we’ll see what we get.
TikTok has obviously been very kind to you, would you say it there or on something else?
“I want to do something long to maybe release the album, just so people can see the year we’ve had. The other day we all went to see a billboard in Leicester Square that I got on, which was crazy. So we played a show in Soho and then went to see him. And it was a very beautiful moment that we were able to capture. Because I’m just extremely grateful – I don’t take any of this for granted.
Luvcat’s “Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel” is now available; she will play at the Moth Club on November 13
