Dating in the digital age has been a conundrum for many, even before the pandemic took hold of the world. In Little Bird’s latest single “SWIPE,” the Charleston, SC-based quintet explores this all-too-relatable quandary millennials and Gen Z find themselves in every time they open one of those “nifty” dating apps. Today, Little Bird shares a lyric video for “SWIPE,” the first single from ALPHA, the first EP of a three-part series. Check out the smooth and silky track below.
“The song is about the immediacy of dating in 2021, it’s easy to just move through a ton of options until you find what you like, and sometimes you even miss opportunities,” Little Bird guitarist and vocalist Jay Hurtts shares. “It’s also really easy to romanticize people in your own head from built-up expectations set out in a social media or dating-app profile.”
In “SWIPE,” the jazz-inspired psychedelic indie rockers explore the guard one puts up when dating in the digital age, not wanting to be your authentic self too soon. Hurtts elaborates, “While dating in high school and even college, it felt odd having feelings immediately towards people, however weak or strong. I felt the social standard was to be casual and coming forward with any type of emotion too early was strange.”
Reminiscent of artists like Tom Misch or Crumb, “SWIPE” immediately draws listeners in with its smooth and syrupy basslines, glittering keyboard tones, and relatable lyrics, where Hurtts croons, “I’ll show you half myself, and through the glass somebody else out there.” The track concludes with a spacey, improv-inspired keyboard solo by pianist Noah Jones, placing Little Bird among the ranks of modern psychedelia’s finest.
ALPHA is the first of three EPs promised from Little Bird for 2021 release. The three EPs will make up a 23-track odyssey entitled Proxima, an LP due out later this year.
Keep up with all things Little Bird via their website and official Facebook page for more info.
Photo credit: Georgia VanNewkirk