Australian pop artist Kieran Stevenson's debut single, 'Need Your Love', evokes the glittery goodness of '80s pop, with modern production and a lyrical 'happy-sad punch' that examines the push and pull of whether or not to let go of a wilting friendship.
The track reconciles Kieran's childhood music fandom; from being "totally rattled" seeing Britney Spears' 'Baby One More Time' as a four year old, devouring Ben Folds, Kate Miller-Heidke and Regina Spektor as a teen, then studying jazz at university, to current influences like Troye Sivan and Haim."A lot of making the new music has been kind of like wrapping up moments from my past that have had some breathing time into their own little tableaux, and finding a way to reconcile with them," Kieran says.
"It ended up being really important for me to do the same with the music I've listened to over my time as a music fan."
'Need Your Love' is the first of a series of singles Kieran plans to release over the coming months.
Who is Kieran Stevenson... I'm a singer-songwriter from Brisbane making glittery, nostalgia-tinged pop.
I sound like... The music is very much the reconciliation of all the music I've ever loved.
I used to get up before the sun as a kid to soak up all the hits on 'Rage'. I took a strong dose of Kate Miller-Heidke/ Ben Folds/ Regina Spektor as a teen, and then I studied jazz at uni and spent most of my time trying to find things other than jazz to listen to.
All of that has kind of come full circle to the music sounding maybe a bit like Bleachers, Haim, Troye Sivan and Muna, alongside everything from my past as well.
My first gig was... With an old duo of mine at Our Place in Fortitude Valley.
Before that I'd been singing and playing music with my family at school and church as a kid. There's a real top-shelf performance of my dad playing guitar while I sing Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' at a primary school talent show out there somewhere.
When did you settle on the your name, and was it a unanimous decision... My name is definitely just my name, but I've very recently dropped my middle name initial from my name.
Getting rid of the T. from Kieran T. Stevenson felt like a real 'I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now' moment, but on a much smaller scale.
In the studio I usually... Encourage lots of coffee trips, and force everyone to listen to whatever jammer I've been losing my sh.t over that week.
If I could tour with anyone... For sure would be Harry Styles or Haim. It would be an honest to god thrill to see Harry's outfits every night, and Haim are insanely inspiring musicians/ performers/ humans.
Social media is... Used rarely for posting, used often for scrolling cool sh.t.
My favourite app at the moment is... Very boringly probably just voice memos, or TikTok to soak up the youthful energy.
To date, my most embarrassing moment was the time... I don't love the idea of revisiting this memory.
I'll just say this – don't mix your drinks and then hop on a shuttle bus after a wedding reception. You will be sick, and it will get all over your kid cousin. The shame sobered me up so quickly, so the memory is regrettably super vivid.
Life on the road can be... I haven't really toured before. But road trips have always been a big thing in my family, so a lot of that imagery has really informed the imagery for my music. Night drives are, and will always be, the ultimate main character zone for me.
If you'll have me on your bill, all I ask is that the rider contains... Coffee and/ or gin.
The most scary scenario I've found myself in, was... Being on a shaky/ spiralling plane sitting in the emergency exit seats.
You agree to the extra leg room seat assuming you'll never actually have to step it up to help evacuate the plane, until the emergency exit lights light up and you lock eyes with the strangers in your row as you all wonder what you've signed up for.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be your spokesperson? Miley Cyrus always has the coolest way of summarising where she's at personally, and describes it in a way that aligns with the music she's discussing in her interviews so succinctly. Would be rad to have her do that for me.
If you had to live in a city abroad, where would you choose and why? Would love to be lapping up big LA endless summer vibes all year 'round.
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party... I would love to have Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift over to see if they would want to be my friend, and in case it went well I'd pre-prepare a Powerpoint presentation convincing them to make a record with me.
And then maybe Joni Mitchell as well. I discovered 'Blue' and Kate Bush's 'Hounds Of Love' at the same time and I couldn't write for months. So Joni kind of scares the sh.t out of me, but I feel like there'd be no dull moments. Also she's a fully fledged living legend.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? I went through a phase for some reason a while back of poaching pears in spices and syrup and bourbon and other things. And also probably pasta.
No matter the expense, send me a case of... Pez (specifically the cherry flavour).
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... My hairdresser used to be on the outskirts of a gym many years ago. So technically never, but I did go near one on one to three occasions.
What's the one chore you dislike the most? Honestly there’s a lot of chores that I enjoy. Hearing things work their way up the vacuum cleaner? A true joy. Fresh sheets? A feeling like no other. Chores can be good!
Do you have any phobias? There's some pretty real phobias kicking around in my brain, but I'm just going to keep it somewhat light today and say snakes.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? I probably would never, but the chaos of 'The Masked Singer' this year had me weirdly hooked enough to follow the updates online.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? I'm not really one for pranks, but I think my producer Cody thought I was pranking him when I suggested putting acoustic guitar on a couple of the new songs. I have a long history of having some beef with the acoustic guitar, but we've worked through it.
