Love You Later is the brainchild of synth-pop artist by Lexi Aviles, who makes music circulating through lush, dreamy landscapes with quixotic lyrics and wide-eyed optimism. The LA-based singer, who grew up in Orange County and intermittently spent time living in Nashville, manages to create her own shimmery sound while casting an unwavering grasp on the ideologies behind self-love, unresolved longing, and complicated romance.
Today, she shares “Making Plans,” the new single off her forthcoming sophomore EP. The melancholic synth-pop effort places Aviles’ songwriting in a new foreground—a ripened exploration of the complexities of loneliness, self-interest, and why the emotional discomfort is there to begin with. Aviles displays insight beyond her 21 years of life fueled by bemoaning lyrics of romantic love, self-love, and lingering self-consciousness. Love You Later takes aim at pop bliss through dreamy productions and blurring her vocals with gleaming synths to create a sonic oasis of serenity amidst the internal chaos.
“Making Plans” is accompanied by its music video directed and styled by Sophia Lauer. Shot in various locations throughout Nashville, the visuals are elevated by a synthesis of shades, the spirit of indie filmmaking, and a rollercoaster of extensive emotions. Thematically, the narrative taps into self-realization and attempting to fill up the vacant spaces left behind from past relationships.
Love You Later says this of her new single:
“‘Making Plans’ is about I tend to ‘make plans’ just to keep myself busy and get lost in it all. It sounds crude but if I really was honest with myself and with you, I think sometimes – even if we don’t realize it – we use people to pass time for our own selfish reasons. To escape or feel something. We don’t want to be alone. The song has all kinds of ups and downs to go along with the jumble of emotions. The loneliness and space in my own head leads to me making dumb decisions and in turn, I begin self-analyzing and try to snap myself out of it. It’s an internal battle. ‘Making Plans’ is one of the more painfully honest songs I’ve released. I think that’s why it’s so special to me.”
Love You Later expresses this about the music video:
“To go along with the dynamics of the track, the video has a lot of ups & downs to illustrate my confused feelings on the topic. Sometimes it all feels too much and it’s a never-ending cycle that we tend to put ourselves through. The video narrates my mixed emotions throughout this date night out – the guy that I am passing time with is mainly used more as a prop or just someone to fill the space. In most shots, he’s showing little to no emotion and not paying me any attention because a lot of times that’s how I feel when I am in a situation like that. It’s so easy to be with people but not really be present or connecting. I realize it’s pointless but I still do it to myself because I’m human. It can be exhilarating and even beautiful at times, but as much as you wish it wouldn’t, the night always comes to an end and you’re left to sit in your own head…”
Aviles has been writing music since she was 11 when she got her first instrument, a ukulele. Her musical influences include MUNA, The Japanese House, and King Princess. Enamored with pop music of the 80s and 90s, Aviles’ Love You Later project is inspired by those eras despite not actually living through them.
“Making Plans” follows Love You Later’s late 2019 single “Said That You’d Be There.” Both tracks are lifted off her sophomore EP due out spring 2020.