10 May Songstress Riva Taylor releases her new album TWH.2
Riva Taylor reveals her new album today Friday 7th May 2021. TWH.2 is the second instalment of a two-part album, part one of which was released during 2020. This new offering is punctuated with latest single Woman, as well as the Jakwob-produced (Celeste, Little Simz, Charlie XCX) single Magic, Radio 1 favourite If I Could Ever Stop Loving You, and other unheard new music from the UK musician and songwriter.
The first instalment of the album, This Woman’s Heart.1 was released during the week of the 2020 UK lockdown and The earned Riva fans in Sir Elton John and Pete Tong. Riva created the album as a coincidental statement of confusion, heartbreak and loss. “It’s what I call the ‘dark half’ of my heart.” Riva explains. “This Woman’s Heart.2 on the contrary makes peace with a past and looks towards a bright future with hope, and with a greater sense of personal understanding. Many of the songs were written and refined throughout lockdown and a common thread of resolve pull them all together.”
Riva Taylor is a new kind of music artist, taking charge of her own creative direction and exploring modern possibilities to grow her work. Riva is also joining Mintbase, a global platform that allows the artist to create and sell their own music in the form of an NFT (Non-fungible token). Riva will has tokenised her work, and recently exhibited her NFT catalogue and latest single ‘Magic’ at the Wildeverse exhibition, Germany. “I’m always one to get excited by a new tech venture. I’ve been releasing my music independently for the past few years through my own label” Riva speaks on the new project “As the owner of my masters for now, as well as an artist that feels the pinch of low streaming revenue potential like so many, exploring new ways to make music available and allow artists to profit fairly and transparently, this feels like a no brainier. I’m also excited by the thought of packaging up my music as an exclusive audio/visual experience’.
Riva Taylor NFT store: Https://near.mintbase.io
Exhibition information: https://wildemoehrefestival.de
This Woman’s Heart.2 is an accomplished body of work that reveals Riva Taylor’s personal growth as a songwriter. This new offering paints a lyrical landscape that delicately explores grief, love and female empowerment, showcasing contemporary soulful tracks that already sound like classics.
If I Could Ever Stop Loving You explores the idea of feeling love for someone you are no longer with, making peace with disappointment and honouring the power of a feeling of everlasting love. “It felt like the perfect statement to open the next chapter of music for me – which is all about moving out of darkness, solving inner questions and celebrating a bright, unknown future” notes Riva.
On Magic, Riva outlines the liberating feeling of having fallen out of love and questioning how something that once felt so powerful can become a vanishing act. Celebrate explores turbulence of grief. Riva reveals “It touches on the darkness of 2020 and optimism of a brighter 2021, putting a positive spin on loss as a memory and moment worth celebrating.”
US is about feeling liberated by new love after heartbreak. “I wrote it about love in lockdown, and the importance of standing strong and supportive with the special ones in life through it all. It’s about enjoying the moment” says Riva. The musician also notes that Woman is about defiance and strength but also nods to the vulnerabilities that can be felt when navigating womanhood. “It acknowledges that sometimes we seek human support and safety (for me, the idea of being a girl again in the arms of my biggest supporter, my father) through our journey to realising our own personal satisfactions and successes. It acknowledges that sometimes, life doesn’t work out as our childhood selves had planned”.
In Love (No More) is a song of closure and the confusing inner dialogue we have as we let go for good. With the lyrics ‘Hold me now, no no more, just hold me now, and love no more’, the track makes a defiant statement about knowing that you don’t want to fall back into the rhythms of a previous relationship, however familiar it might feel.
Riva is a big advocate for emerging talent in The Arts. She spent two years running a sold-out Writing Round series at London’s Roundhouse, a songwriter’s circle. This led to the launch of TWH in 2020 – a community that supports and connects women making a positive social impact in the arts. During lockdown, Riva continued these shows virtually, raising money for music venues who had to close their doors in the pandemic such as The Roundhouse and Bluebird Cafe. Riva also hosted some online seminars called ‘Creative Light’ with women across the arts discussing mental health, race, and how the arts can refocus us at times of change and challenge.
