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Jamie Lidell and Kaya Stewart team up to form L.I.Y.A.

Listen to their first song, “California.”

July 30, 2018

In 2016, I spoke with soulful Brit Jamie Lidell, who had recently moved to Nashville and made a really great album, Building a Beginning. Now, he's starting an entirely new chapter, making music with poppy newcomer Kaya Stewart. Together, they're a duo called L.I.Y.A. and today The FADER is premiering their first song, "California," an airy song about the left-coast with Kaya's powerful voice and a lot of wobbles courtesy of Jamie.

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In an email to The FADER, Kaya explained how they got together. "Jamie and I hit it off from the first day we met in Nashville," she said. "In a room surrounded with Jamie’s vintage synthesizers, we experimented without any pressure or label breathing down our neck and 16 songs later we realized we had actually made a unique sounding album. This first release “California” is an example of us having that creative freedom and even though the song is full of irony it still sounds uplifting in a weird way."

The sweet sentiment was echoed by Jamie, who said the recording process was "just one of those magical experiences which happen rarely."

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"The songs came together quickly and naturally with Kaya and I bouncing ideas off each other in rapid fire,” he said. “California,” like many of the other songs, is very melodic but with unexpected twists and turns along the way so I was constantly engaged in the writing and production. Being in the studio with Kaya never gets boring it’s always exciting and on the edge."


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