Today sees the release of Ivoris’ debut EP “My Messy Mind”, which is the most personal and unfiltered version of Ivoris released thus far. “My songs are always inspired by emotion, and the last two years have forced me to look inward and sit with my own thoughts, which has been difficult! Writing these songs has been like therapy to me, and has definitely impacted the way I’ll write songs in the future. After all, where else can I be my most vulnerable if not in my music!?”
Prior to the release, the Melbourne-based artist chatted about the release of one of its key songs, Bedtime Angel, a song Ivoris explains came out of the frustration of not being able to fall asleep at night.
“[T]his was the first song that I’ve written addressed to myself,” Ivoris explains. “It was a moment of vulnerability where I was like, oh I wish someone would just write a lullaby for me and hold me till I fall asleep. I sort of stepped out of my own self and serenaded myself, if that makes sense.”
Ivoris is the type of person that has always had a very anxious, noisy mind, which makes falling asleep a real test of her patience. “This song was written during a phase where I was struggling more than usual to switch my mind off at night,” she continues. “It’s an incredibly frustrating experience, when the more you try to fall asleep the more it eludes you.”
“I wrote this song on one of those sleepless nights, with the intention of writing a calm, dreamy lullaby.” — Ivoris
The first line “need a bedtime angel” came out naturally to her, and it sums up the entire song perfectly.
“Releasing music is always a mixture of relief, excitement, nerves and fear,” Ivoris adds. “I’ve been holding onto Bedtime Angel for a couple [of] years, so it feels a little strange that it’s been set free from my bedroom and out into the real world.”
Whilst this is a personal song for Ivoris, it holds lots of its elements from the beginning of its creative process to its release. At the time of this interview, Ivoris was actually listening to the original demo of Bedtime Angel this morning, so it was fresh in her mind: “I do think that the feeling I wanted to capture has been preserved in this final version,” Ivoris says. “It’s a little more bouncy and fun now, and I love that a song that grew from a place of frustration and anxiety can turn into a song you can dance around to!”
In saying that, though, the creative process for the song was straightforward – Ivoris wrote this song in her bedroom late one night on her guitar, and recorded a voice memo that was mostly gibberish! “Those melodies and phrases turned into a demo that I produced, which originally included strings and harp and lullaby-ish instruments,” Ivoris continues on the creative process of Bedtime Angel. “A while later I took it to my collaborator Cropley, and we worked on the production over many months together. It was a lot of fun working on this track with him, we’re both really meticulous with choosing sounds and he just understood the direction I wanted this track to go.”
“I hope anyone who struggles with insomnia or trouble sleeping can find some solace and comfort in this song.” — Ivoris
Speaking on the release of the EP, Ivoris explains that “My Messy Mind” is a colourful, chaotic world full of emotion. Expect to feel the way you do when you’re watching a Pixar movie! There’ll be smiling, crying, laughing, sadness, silliness and joy.
