Indie pop singer-songwriter Kylie Rothfield has released her debut album Lover Like That, including the title song “Lover Like That.” Featuring some of Rothfield’s well-known guitar work, the song deals with the strain of romantic desire and affection.
“Crying in the bathroom of your party” immediately sets the tone of the song as the rhythm and lead guitar establish its pace. The electric guitar starts to layer itself into the second verse, all heavily panned and with different pedal effects. Having the different guitar parts panned across from one another and with different effects cleverly gives the sense of more instrumentation whilst also providing a good mix of textures within the song. Rothfield is known for her creativity with guitar, so this smart hack falls well within her music. The desperate tone of the song is highlighted in the instrumentation of the chorus, with a heavy reverb on the strumming guitar and dragging drum beat replicating the artist’s feelings of fatigue. “Lover Like That” could easily work as a simple ballad, but Rothfield finds creative and innovative ways to approach the song’s mix.
The lyrics only exaggerate the emotional tiredness of the instrumentation. In the first verse, the line “kiss me like a vintage backseat barbie” is a striking image of a doll that is misused and discarded. Rothfield makes a callback to the Barbie doll in the line “looking up the price of a plastic body,” which references not only the iconic doll but also insecurities over body image. The song deals with a one-sided relationship in which the singer has become too romantically attached to a sexual partner. This is emphasised in the chorus’s “never going to be a lover like that,” highlighting Rothfield’s desire for a movie-like romantic love. Striking a balance between showing and telling, Rothfield creates an in-depth world of desire and rejection for listeners to drown themselves in.
“Lover Like Me” is the title track of Kylie Rothfield’s debut album, Lover Like Me, out now. The rocking somber ballad about a love never found is available to listen to now wherever you get your music.
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