Jared Braden A healthy obsession with pop music!It’s rare for a song to immediately demand my attention, but that’s what happened when I heard “Radio” from Phoenix-based indie pop singer Luna Aura. With its hypnotic beat and devastatingly heart-felt vocal delivery, “Radio” is a rare type of pop song that draws you in with each passing second.
As a child, the up-and-coming pop singer says she was introduced to a diverse range of music, from country to R&B to pop. “Growing up, my parents were a little more into country, but my aunt was the one to really expose me to r&b and hip-hop (my first love) as a child,” Luna explains. “I never identified with an artist at that young of an age per say, but more with the music itself. “Are You That Somebody”, by the beautifully talented Aaliyah, was the first song I remember truly identifying with. I remember choreographing dances to that song in my garage with the girls on my street. It was the first time I really noticed the production behind a song, and the first time I realized what it is to feel music.
“Norah Jones was my pre-teen inspiration. She taught me the importance of poetic storytelling in music. I always admired her uniqueness and class just as a person, and I strive to emulate that in my own life. And THAT VOICE… Norah taught me that a voice is capable of being just as poetic as the song itself.
“Last but not least, miss Katy Perry. My mom used to change the station every time “I Kissed a Girl” came on the radio. Meanwhile, I was downloading the entire “One of the Boys” album on my iPod, and playing it day in and day out. Katy was my first taste of “the devil’s music”, which I will always love her for. She made me feel good about being a girl with a lot to say, and definitely inspired a little more bravery in my writing. ”
These early influences appear to have paid off for the talented pop singer. One listen to the self-penned “Radio” offers up enough evidence that Luna has a deeper understanding of pop music than most artists twice her age. The track successfully marries pop sensibility with just the right amount of raw emotion; something that can be tricky to achieve.
Luna says “Radio” was born after meeting someone while she working on her forthcoming EP. “I wrote “Radio” because of a relationship I kind of fell into while I was writing my EP. I met someone who I instantly connected with, but there were a lot of things going on at the time that didn’t allow us to be together. The song itself is just about being hooked to someone or something that you don’t necessarily want to be hooked to. Similar to how people feel about songs on the radio nowadays. You don’t want to admit that you love that Top 40 banger on the radio, but there’s something about it that just pulls you in. I co-produced the track with my partner Sean Chris, and I wrote the lyrics within the first day of finishing the music.”
For the music video, Luna wanted the lyrics and emotion behind the creation of song to come to life. “I wanted the video to feel very controlled and a little uneasy, especially because that’s how I felt at that time,” she explains. “I wasn’t sure about how to handle what I was feeling for this person, and I was always trying to keep myself under control. We were both playing games because we wanted to be together, but knew it couldn’t happen. So when I would show him that I loved him, he would pull away from me… and I would do the same when he showed me that he loved me. But every once in a while, we would be in perfect harmony with one another. Loving each other and allowing ourselves to be loved as well. I feel like the video portrays that beautifully.”
Luna Aura is a pop artist you’re going to want to keep an eye on. It’s rare to find a young pop artist with a knack for delivering radio-friendly pop songs that are driven by so much authentic emotion. Luna will release her self-titled debut EP on August 26th, but you can get “Radio” on iTunes right now! If you’re in the Phoenix area, Luna will hold a release party on August 30th at the Palomar Hotel in downtown Phoenix. She will also be performing at the Summer Ends Music Festival in Phoenix on September 28, 2014 alongside some notable names in pop music, including Foster The People, Violent Femmes, and synthpop new comer Kitten.
