‘Lonely Doll’ is another surging, soaring, coming-of-age heartbreak bop ballad from talented Ukrainian-Aotearoa alt-pop artist VÏKAE.
With each release from her LOVE GAMES Mixtape, coming out 26 August, VÏKAE bravely shares a well-produced vignette from her coming-of-age story - first ‘Love Games’, then ‘Final Breakdown’, and now ‘Lonely Doll’ is no exception.
“I’m a sucker for cathartic writing, but I think a huge part of the record is the idea of ‘coming of age’, making peace with the demons that still haunt my dreams. I am nothing but real in my writing,” says VÏKAE.
Inspiration for ‘Lonely Doll’ came when revisiting a diary entry, while in the studio with long-time collaborator Abigail Knudson. VÏKAE says the ‘gloomy’ entry was made during her last year living in Dunedin.
“I don’t know what compelled me to take that particular diary to the studio that day,” ,” says VÏKAE, “maybe it was my subconscious telling me to finally start writing through the pain that I had so actively avoided for 3 years since moving to Auckland.
It was after reading this entry - ‘how can you say you love me, when you leave me like a doll you no longer find shiny; then when someone new sees my value and joy you don’t want anyone else to have me’ - that I looked at Abby and knew what the subject matter was going to be for that day in the studio.”
With this latest offering, it’s easy to hear tinges of Taylor Swift coming through from the self-confessed “Swiftie” - but only as far as subject matter and high-quality production goes - VÏKAE is an artist who definitely has her own sound, and lots of exciting releases and shows coming up - so be sure to follow!