Singer-songwriter and producer Sabrina Song captivated audiences across the globe with her debut album, You Could Stay In One Spot, and I’d Love You The Same, released this year. Her articulate lyricism and catchy indie-pop tracks are signs of a rising star. Allston Pudding staffer Samantha Davidson sat down with Song when she stopped by Berklee’s Cafe 939 during her first cross-country tour to learn more about her writing process, production decisions, and art direction.
Note: Some questions and answers have been slightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Allston Pudding: We’re having this interview right after your incredible opening set. Thank you for sitting down with me today! What is one of your favorite memories or fan interactions from the Late Start Tour with Carol Ades?
Sabrina Song: I think one of my favorite is from the last show in Philly. We finished the set and then someone in the front of the audience was like, “I made you these bracelets.” They were alphabet bead bracelets. I didn’t look at them too closely, and then when I packed up all my stuff and had more time, I saw that they were all my song titles. I thought that they would have been Carol’s. I just didn’t expect that, and I got to talk to the person after. It was so sweet. That was one of the first times anyone’s ever made a custom little gift, so that was really amazing. Everyone after the shows in the audience, talking to people, has been so sweet. That’s been a highlight for sure.
AP: I love that. Your debut album, You Could Stay In One Spot, and I’d Love You The Same is absolutely breathtaking. The title appears in the song “Busy Work,” and I was wondering how you selected that phrase as the title and what it means to you?
Song: Yes, I really thought about the title for a long time and I knew that You Could Stay In One Spot, and I’d Love You The Same was long, but I really was scouring the lyrics. I was brainstorming phrases and motifs that I thought appeared throughout the album but nothing was really capturing the overall sentiment better than that phrase. I was saying this a bit during the show, but it was a period where so many people, after college and as parents become empty nesters, are moving and changing cities. You’re young enough that you can kind of relocate anywhere. I was just having so much gratitude for my loved ones and feeling like I was coming into my own and finally having some period of true self-acceptance. It kind of was a message for myself and the people in my life: “Even though this is this tumultuous transitional period, you are what I care about and it doesn’t matter where you are.”
AP: You showcase your incredible songwriting and vocal range on delicate tracks like “Before and After,” rock-inspired songs like “Okay, Okay,” and the perfect intersection of both in “It Was Not A Beautiful Night.” I’d love to learn more about what the songwriting and production process looked like.
Song: I think this was definitely a bit of a departure from the overall sound of my music before the album, which definitely leaned a bit more synthy and sparse even. I always wanted the soundscape of my music to be what the album encompasses, but I just never felt ready. I felt like I hadn’t figured that out yet. I felt like I was letting myself be influenced by what other people were doing. I had a lot of background noise in my head about what the production should sound like. With the album, I wanted there to be a lot of live instrumentation. I want to have really high highs and low lows and I always try to let the songwriting guide the production. On songs like that, maybe I’m not thinking actively, “Oh, this will be a more mellow song, this will be the high point,” but as we started putting the track list together, it was shaping out nicely. It felt like I was hitting all the marks that I wanted to hit and emotional beats too. I try to read the emotional tone and then flesh out what I’m hearing in my head.
AP: That was a perfect segue because you talked about the live instruments on the album. What do these elements add to the music for you?
Song: I love so many different genres and spaces artists occupy in a live setting versus the recorded music. I think it’s really interesting how people adapt things for live shows. I love the pop-leaning direction, I love more electronic instrumentation. I think from trial and error for me, at least right now, who knows, maybe in the future I’ll change my mind, I was really feeling like more live instrumentation is what the songs needed to resonate. It was also something I just hadn’t tried as much before, so it was also just an experiment in “What would it be like if I wasn’t relying on so many sampled elements or in-the-box elements?” It was really what I had always wanted. I think I just hadn’t figured that out yet. I really like blending the live instrumentation with some of the sampled sounds, ambient noises, and field sounds.
AP: I love the intimate aesthetic you created with the visuals of playing cards and candles. The album art and Spotify canvases help create and sell the world. Where did the shoot take place and what inspired the art direction?
Song: I feel like I’ve never actually talked about this before. I’m dying to. One of my best friends, Livy Wicks, shot it. She also makes music under the name Livia O, and she’s amazing. She’s also a photographer and we shot it at her partner’s apartment because he had a bunch of interesting decor and the space for us to take it over and set it up. I just love playing cards. It’s one of my favorite things to do and I do it with all my friends and family and I always have. I think there’s a lot of symbolism there in terms of leaving things up to fate or trying to have strategy but there’s only so much strategy can provide you in life and not in games. I think I wanted to capture this setting where I spend a lot of my intimate time with my friends. I have a lot of conversations at someone’s apartment, like playing cards or listening to music and talking for hours. I wanted to capture that in the imagery. For the live show, I want to make it as big as possible when it can be. I think the album is overall a pretty intimate experience emotionally. It was just all the more special that Livy shot it because she is one of the most important people to me and so talented, so it also was part of wanting her influence and framing.
Catch Sabrina Song live on the Late Start Tour with Carol Ades before it concludes in December. Buy tickets here.
Check out all of Samantha’s photos from the show below.
