Featured Photo Credit: Ashley Osborn
It’s nearly impossible to think of HBO’s hit Euphoria without a few things coming to mind… the haze of purple neon, bold graphic eyeliner with glittering embellishments, and of course, the soundtrack.
With last week’s release of a special episode intended to hold fans over until the release of pandemic-delayed season two, viewers were treated by the television debut of singer-songwriter Ai Bendr’s “Love Me Low.”
While it may not have the dramatic verse to chorus change in rhythm of Labrinth’s ‘Still Don’t Know My Name’ making it the perfect audio for TikTok transitions, the 17-year-old’s latest track still has the potential to become the next viral sound… Whether it be through queer coded Euphoria aesthetic edits, the latest dance trend that is yet to be dreamt up, or solely for the longing feeling that the song itself so beautifully expresses.
Bittersweet from start to end, “Love Me Low” does a perfect job of conjuring up the feeling of your last few moments with someone, wishing that they could last forever. The feeling of longing for something that is still right in front of you. A feeling that could only be evoked by someone who has experienced it themselves.
Bendr wrote “Love Me Low” last year after ending things with her high school love, proceeding to record the track in the boiler room in her family home… A family home that once was not a place of support for the music of the Australian-born, Michigan-raised artist.
Initially, Bendr’s parents discouraged the thought of pursuing music as anything more than a hobby, leaving her exposure to music limited to what was playing on the radio. It wasn’t until Bendr was attending a Massachusetts boarding school that she says she had the freedom to learn to play the piano and write and produce songs.
Her music, once met with scoldings for singing around the house, was replaced by successful performances at open mics, helping to build the young artists’ confidence.
Every song that Bendr writes is the direct result of her lived experiences, or feelings she is “trying to explore on a deeper level,” according to a press release. “A lot of lyrics in the songs are inspired by my desire to make this music thing happen.”
With her dreams of music at the forefront of her life and continued success, Bendr says that she has the full support of her parents behind her, and wants “for her own music to speak to people in the same way that it has done before.”
Based on the reactions after the premiere of the special Euphoria episode, it seems as though this is only just the start of Bendr’s success.