In his new single “Honesty,” Levi Rowan is rocking the short and sweet singles. And by “sweet” we mean he puts a cheery spin on a brutally honest and self-aware approach to toxic relationships.
The track, produced by Corey LeRue (Neon Dreams), is fun and uplifting at its exterior and revisits the upbeat tones of Levi Rowan’s previously released “Night Terrors.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek approach that enables Levi to let loose on the touchy subject as he bares his own tendencies of deflecting and self-sabotage.
While he doesn’t beat around the bush, Rowan cleverly buries the worst of it in the Hollywood fantasies of classic films, all glamourous allusions to ticking timebombs and ritzy train wrecks. It may as well be the glossy fairytale version of Courtney and Kurt.
Rowan explains that “Honest” was created from a combination of his favourite films (and rather telling ones, at that) with his own sense of “self-loathing narcissism.”
“It’s hard to explain,” says Rowan of the side-tracked ego. “It’s like a built-in auto-correct. It helps in musical growth, makes your head hurt though.”
In the track, he namedrops Oliver Stone’s serial killer romance Natural Born Killers and the Peter Weir-directed The Truman Show which stars Jim Carrey as the unwitting subject of an elaborately constructed reality tv show on the verge of collapsing around him.
“I tried to use film references to showcase the perfect life, the ‘what ifs’ we all daydream about: what if we got a nice house by the beach, what if we had a family and a dog and we’re in love forever and ever etc.,” says Rowan. “Then the chorus is snapping back to reality; oh shit, sometimes I can’t get out of bed because my mind is racing and I want to be alone. Sometimes we don’t talk for weeks because our lives aren’t heading in the same direction.”
Rowan notes that The Truman Show also serves as the inspiration for the upcoming “Honest” music video.