Jim Spellman/Getty Pictures
Reporting by Alissa Godwin
In this age of self-isolation and quarantine, it be never been extra main to set up in on each and every diversified and to connect. This goes for artists, too, who had been social distancing alongside us: livestreaming concerts and hangouts, creating their very luxuriate in talk about reveals, and… effectively, that is what we desire them to bid us, with A ways away Access.
Home made tune videos maintain turn into a necessity within the age of self-isolation and quarantine, nevertheless consequently of of innovators esteem Lennon Stella, they assign now not need to survey homemade. Her contemporary visual for “Concern of Being On my own” is moody and inventive, following the 20-300 and sixty five days-old singer as she poses and contorts around an empty room. Most rag-tag DIY creations continuously don’t upward push to this graceful level. But Stella’s a skilled, even when she has to MacGyver a high-caliber visual the use of much less-than-skilled staging and instruments pleasing out of frame.
“I became doing my glamour shot on the ground,” she instructed MTV News. “It be literally my mother dragging me — it will in all probability per chance per chance well now not be extra, pleasing, dirty. I’m on the ground. We had been laughing the total time consequently of I’m doing this shot that seems to be so glamorous, and the sunshine is agreeable discovering my face, and truly, my mother, she has towel wrapped around my ankle and [is] pulling me. It became so humorous.”
These are the techniques Stella needed to drag out to reduction create that visual, which also bought some help from her boyfriend as a space decorator, stringing up lights to reduction recreate a vibe identical to a Kate Bush video. “You maintain gotten got to rating so inventive, which is candy, in a vogue,” she said. “It be stretching my mind to develop things which will likely be a tiny bit extra sorrowful and likewise pleasing out of the usual.”
And there is plenty extra to maintain a good time — her brassy, poppy debut album, Three. Two. One., dropped on April 24, and she’s been desirous to designate off any other aspect of herself than the nation-tinged one she first broke out with alongside her sister, Maisy, and the characters the duo performed on Nashville. (Obviously, her sister reveals up on the album, too, on the decrease “Weak point (Huey Lewis),” which Lennon wrote about her.)
Below, the artist unpacks Three. Two. One. — in conjunction with what it be been take hold of to liberate it amid quarantine — apart from what she’s been as much as when she’s now not getting dragged all over the ground by her mother, all within the title of getting the loyal shot.
MTV News: Why did you title your album Three. Two. One.?
Stella: I in actual fact seen this characterize on Pinterest of these contributors. It became this in actual fact rather characterize in murky and white of all these contributors jumping off this constructing. And it became the liberty that I in actual fact feel became captured within the characterize [that] I pleasing became so drawn to, and it felt esteem this kind of liberate. And I despatched it to my mother, and we had been going help and forth on this contrivance, consequently of that is finally what this album feels esteem. Speaking of pressures and all these expectations — I in actual fact desired to let inch of all that and pleasing in actual fact feel freed from all of it and pleasing inflamed to dive into something unique. And Three. Two. One. pleasing felt loyal of the preliminary soar.
MTV News: Releasing an album, your first album, in this unknown second that we’re all residing in, is there something that caught out to you that you have not got realized if things had been extra usual?
Stella: I in actual fact feel esteem it made it so important extra particular in a mode of techniques, consequently of all of the glitz and glam pleasing bought fully taken out. It be so contemporary right now: Every person feels a tiny bit extra linked than I’ve ever considered contributors. I in actual fact feel most linked to the contributors of my Instagram extra than I ever maintain. Every person on there, we pleasing in actual fact feel contrivance extra tight, and hanging an album out after I in actual fact feel esteem that is pleasing so important extra pleasant, consequently of I deem there might per chance be pleasing this kind of lawful vibe going, and I in actual fact in actual fact feel esteem we’re all pleasing guests and everybody’s messaging me as a chum. So it feels very good and it doesn’t always in actual fact feel esteem that. … I deem if anything must unruffled now not be canceled, it desires to be tune. The entire lot else will even be pushed help, and I rating it all, nevertheless I in actual fact feel esteem tune is so main right now.
MTV News: Now that the album is out, with all this downtime, are you esteem, “That is my time to kick again,” or are you unruffled staying inventive?
Stella: Successfully, I pleasing moved, so I’m being very inventive in diversified techniques. I esteem adorning the dwelling and doing the total interior invent stuff. So I’m coming into into that and pleasing extra or much less unruffled doing stuff to rating the album heard and promoted in techniques and doing acoustic variations of all the pieces. I deem it be main to maintain a balance — to also pleasing be a human and now not be posting all the pieces, nevertheless there are techniques to protect linked, so hunting for the balance.
MTV News: Consult with me about filming “Concern of Being On my own.” Were you the director? Were you the digicam man? Were you audio?
Stella: “Concern of Being On my own” became scheduled to come help out when it did, nevertheless this became obviously contrivance sooner than [the COVID-19 pandemic] occurring. I became esteem, wow, that is extremely eerie and this feels crazy to be hanging it out at the present. And it extra or much less took on an entire unique life, pleasing the tune itself lyrically in actual fact had an entire unique meaning. We had been very cramped with how lets in actual fact develop a tune video. But my friend CeCe [Dawson] — she does pleasing unheard of videos and photos and all that. So I knew she’d been quarantined. She became the loyal particular person that I in actual fact became happy that she had been caught in her home. My mother and I pleasing brainstormed, and we’re esteem, what develop we develop to develop it contemporary and now not pleasing esteem somebody dancing around their home?
We’re esteem, let’s pleasing develop it esteem I inch crazy in my home, and it labored out so completely, being a tune that genuinely lended [itself] to being filmed in a home. It made sense. So we pleasing bought in actual fact inventive and yes, we extra or much less all directed it. There became in actual fact no director. It became pleasing esteem, I extra or much less had a vision for it. We had been pleasing bouncing off so many solutions and pleasing extra or much less spewed it out to CeCe, and she became esteem, “Yes, I completely, I in actual fact feel that.” And she pleasing performed it completely.
MTV News: I know “Weak point (Huey Lewis)” is particular to you and your sister. What about this tune made it so main for you each and every?
Stella: This tune became written at a in actual fact intense share of our lives, and after I wrote it, the feeling became so heightened. And I deem anytime I write a tune the save aside the feeling is overflowing, it pleasing hits that important more difficult each and every time I stammer it consequently of I’m pleasing esteem, “Whoa, that became so emotional.” I deem it is miles extra or much less heavy and unhappy, nevertheless it be also something that I deem each and every of us maintain in actual fact — we’re moved on in a mode of techniques and we in actual fact feel so important greater referring to the total scenario. And so there might per chance be pleasing a sweetness to it that I deem makes it in actual fact particular to each and every of us. She feels that contrivance equally as important as I develop about me being her weak point and the relate that extra or much less pours it all out of her. So yes, it became good to maintain her stammer these lyrics to me and then me stammer them to her.
MTV News: Sadly, you needed to lengthen your tour. Ought to you in the end rating onstage, on every occasion that is also, what can fans question? Now that you are going to maintain this beyond regular time, are you changing your solutions?
Stella: When all this first started occurring, we had been finalizing the total visuals and the total things for the stage, and it became getting very thrilling and intensely unique to what I would performed sooner than, consequently of this tour became pleasing a tiny bit larger. So yes, all the pieces became getting dialed in, and then all this obviously took save aside, and we extra or much less seen it coming that we would per chance need to lengthen the tour rather early on. So we extra or much less place a live on it. I’m inflamed to purchase help up on that aspect of it, too. And that, pleasing the inventive visuals and all these things I deem [are] going to be in actual fact frosty. And now that album has extra or much less a life now, I in actual fact feel important extra inspired and additional inventive as a ways as making the visuals for the album.
MTV News: Is there an overall message that you’re residing by right now that you are going to like to relay to fans accessible?
Stella: An unknown is the scariest relate. Nothing freaks me out extra than that consequently of I’m this kind of adjust freak. Of us maintain announcing that we’re within the identical boat, everybody’s within the identical boat, nevertheless we’re now not within the identical boat. We’re on the identical ocean. And everybody’s handling this in every other case. Every person’s going by contrivance of so many things that we do now not be taught about. And a few contributors are financially right, so that is lawful time to sit down down down help. Most continuously some contributors are fully freaking out. There are such loads of different things and the explanation why we’re now not all handling this the identical contrivance. But I deem, finally, pleasing shimmering that we’re a tiny bit feeling the identical things and we’re now not entirely by myself, as keeping apart and lonely as this feels, I deem that is in actual fact main. And Instagram and social media will even be very toxic, nevertheless it also will even be in actual fact lawful. And especially in times esteem this, I’ve seen pleasing how unheard of it is miles seeing everybody come collectively and be in actual fact making everybody in actual fact feel much less by myself and there might per chance be some form of solidarity. So I deem pleasing finding something that makes you feel lawful, and shimmering that we’re all collectively and we’re all feeling a tiny little bit of the identical relate.