AVIV
AVIV SHARES INTIMATE NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “BLUE EYED BOY”
AVIV RELEASES MUSIC VIDEO TODAY FOR NEW SINGLE “BLUE EYED BOY” WATCH THE INTIMATE MOVING PORTRAIT HERE
DIRECTED BY RYAN FAIST (BOY WONDER)
STREAM HERE ON DSPS VIA DINE ALONE RECORDS
DEPICTING THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER RIDE OF A RELATIONSHIP
Credit: Kelly Mckerr
“…the latest single from the Toronto-based singer-songwriter is pure gold.” –Wonderland Magazine
(Toronto, ON – July 12, 2023) – 17-year-old indie prodigy AVIV has just released the music video for “Blue Eyed Boy,” her new single portraying the evolution of a 300-day rollercoaster relationship that started with excitement and ended with pure emptiness. The tempo and melody emulates those varying up and down stages, beginning with a slow mystifying rhythm representing the exhilaration of discovery and lust. It speeds up to encapsulate the thrill, anxiety, and complexity of sustaining the relationship and finally returns to a slow sedated ending, leading to a sad demise. “I was left with a huge void, only remaining with stoic, yet beautiful blue eyes,” AVIV reflects.
Rather than depict a scenario similar to the lyrics, AVIV elaborates that the new visuals demonstrate the evolution of herself as an individual. Directed by Ryan Faist, also known as the artist boy wonder, he explains that he “wanted to show an intimate moving portrait of Aviv, no strings attached – just Aviv, a chair and a camera. Adding a brief retrospective of her as she’s gone from being a young child to a young performer added a bit more texture. I think when you condense decades of time over the course of two minutes, it can have a powerful pull.”
She adds, “To relay the unknowable sensations of plunging into something with curiosity, we used a mysterious and almost uncomfortable one-shot in black and white film. To break up this intensity, we showcased videos from a concert of mine and images of me as a child to serve as a breath of fresh air. This contributes to the overall theme of ‘Blue Eyed Boy,’ which is about progression, beginnings and endings, and the unknown.”
“Blue Eyed Boy” follows “Jimmy’s House,” a song about worry, particularly anxiety caused by physical distance. Wonderland Magazine proclaimed that “Themes of jealousy and disappointment are told with such sincerity and intimacy, evoking deep emotion in anyone who listens. Writing relatable concepts with far reaching sounds, AVIV lets people into her world — and they’re bound to stick around.” Its music video was also directed by Faist.
Last month, she wrapped a North American tour with joan and Hariette. Next up, she performs at Riverfest Elora on August 18th with tickets available HERE. In spring 2022 she released her debut EP, Drowning in the Culture, available on DSPs HERE and vinyl HERE. A culmination of work put together during the complexity of life experienced in the pandemic, it tackles issues of social isolation, depression, technology, love, and heartbreak. In support, she toured across Canada with Imagine Dragons, and opened for Giant Rooks, Isaac Dunbar, and K.Flay; played POP Montreal, ZONA Music Festival, and M for Montreal.
Upcoming Show:
Aug 18 – Riverfest Elora – Centre Wellington, ON
Credit: Ryan Faist
AVIV is a remarkable talent, with support from popular Spotify playlists including Indie Pop, Pop Sauce, and Young & Free among others. Her track “Black Coffee” emerged on Spotify’s New Music Friday and attracted widespread critical acclaim, illuminating her keen melodic instincts and vivid storytelling. With millions of streams across platforms, she continues to effortlessly lead her youthful fanbase, building a purely art and expression driven brand.
The singer and songwriter retrofits those warm and fuzzy first-time feelings you wish you could hold on to forever, penning the kind of affecting and arresting D.I.Y. pop that’s both nostalgic and prescient, like ‘90s alternative born post-social media. “I’m a teenager who still gets excited about little things, and loves to overanalyze my emotions and put them into music,” she says. “I try to be true to myself with everything I do. The more AVIV the music is, the better.”
Her style of vintage visuals and background distortion is like getting lost in an ambrosial daydream, and that’s exactly what she intends while co-producing each track. Using a combination of grade-school-inspired props and an array of instruments in her live set, her sound takes simple pop beats and layers them with breezy, well-developed vocals to create perfectly arranged, uncluttered ballads.
At age six, she began to develop her voice as she studied piano, but her journey as a performer started in film, cast in roles for shows like American Gothic, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, and Milk Kids. At age 10, AVIV shifted her sights to music, joining a band and learning to play guitar on her brother’s red electric Les Paul. AVIV grew up in a big family of four siblings, including her twin brother. Every Saturday, they went record shopping together on Queen Street in Toronto, picking up classics by Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, and more. “Most families went to the mall,” she recounts. “We went to the record store together.” Casual poetry transformed into songwriting as she regularly played her early compositions for friends and family. Throughout high school, she obsessed over the likes of Clairo, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey. “They’re my three moms,” she jokes.
Working with her big brother’s friend Jackson Follemer as co-producer, she regularly took the train to Montreal to visit them at McGill University and started to record music in 2020. Following “Cookie Dough,” her independent single “Girls In Red” claimed coveted real estate on playlists such as indie pop & chill and eventually amassed hundreds of thousands of streams. “Frontlawn” and “Lonely Bitch” only increased her momentum with consistent organic growth. “Music became a way to convey my emotions,” she reveals. “Since I won’t even talk to my friends about a lot of these things, it’s an outlet for me to talk about things.” She leaves off, “If my song takes you somewhere emotional, there’s nothing better to me. My music makes me answer my own questions – I hope they do the same thing for you.”
