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New Zealand-born producer and songwriter Lontalius has revealed the latest track from his upcoming record, Someone Will Be There For You Side One. The heart-melting Dialtone sees the musician team up with American artist Quiet Luke.
Dialtone shimmers within an acoustic soundscape with vulnerable lyricism and an intimate vocal performance from both musicians. Speaking of the collaboration, Lontalius explains; “Dialtone is a song about living away from home and finding your way in your early twenties. The challenges of missing home and the anxieties around trying to start a new life. It’s hard! I think a lot of people my age goes through something like this. When I moved to Los Angeles in 2016 I was 19 and full of ambition and confidence, but I still couldnt quite crack it. What happens when you let all the ambition loose? Quiet Luke is an artist I’ve admired for a long time and we’d become internet friends over the past few years. I had this song in a demo form and wasn’t really sure where to take it, so I just sent to him to see if he could come up with something. What he added is perfect, I think. His voice and songwriting has such a ‘classic’ feel without ever feeling contrived. It’s nostalgic, which I think suits the song.”
The musical project of Eddie Johnston, Lontalius has three EPs and two albums under his belt, also releasing a number of EPs and many remixes as his electronic producer alter-ego Race Banyon. With over 200k monthly listeners on Spotify, the musician has achieved success across America and signed to Brooklyn-based indie label Partisan Records. After spending five years in Los Angeles with the likes of Grammy Award winning producer Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu) and Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse), the musician returned home and released his sophomore record.
Moving back to New Zealand in March 2020, Lontalius spent the next two months working on new music. He took these songs into studio 4 of Stebbings Recording Centre to develop and record the songs with musicians including Alex Freer and Tom Healy, who also feature in his live band. These sessions resulted in the conception of his ambitious and self-produced third record.
Dialtone is out now!