Gothic Tropic discusses Los Angeles, ups the power pop on new single "Your Soul"

"Your Soul" is a delightfully chugging power pop gem, mixing nagging riffs with west coast jangle and the woozy hum of organ. Cecilia Peruti's sweet yet doleful vocal adds a depth to the breeze as she sings about not being fooled by her ex being back in town. It's the cutting "I know your soul" which exposes the sham, and it's wonderfully insightful.

We spoke to Peruti to find out more about the track and its influences.

Hey Cecilia, what can you tell us about "Your Soul"?

"This song is a conversation with an old flame, as well as a love song to LA. Reconnecting with someone you once considered close makes a person want to reintroduce a 'new and improved me'. But you know them too well, you see right through it! I'm remembering exact street corners where an argument happened, and bringing it all back as kind of internal monologue flashbacks to our relationship."

It's a lot less urgent than "Stronger", yet shares that same power pop feel...are there certain artistic touchstones you return to for inspiration when you're writing?

"The beauty of songwriting is that most of us surrender to something else, and a song is channeled through our instrument or voice, and before you know it, a finished tune has plopped into your lap. Sometimes I don't discover what the song is about until I've had enough time to reflect and analyze what I was feeling at the time. Songwriting almost gets you the diagnosis before even running the tests."

You're from Los Angeles and it feels like there's a west coast-ness here which might not have been captured if you'd formed elsewhere...do you hear the sound of your city in your music?

"I didn't consciously inject a dose of LA into my music, but I'm glad to know you can hear it, because I love Los Angeles, and California in general. My grandma lives in Pasadena, my mom in Studio City, I went to school in the valley, and then Hollywood High School, so there's about 20 years of LA forming who I am. There's a Los Angeles that only exists for people who grew up here, and it's a much different experience than what you see on TV. It's actually much darker! I embrace the LA darkness as much as the sunshine, so I feel like everything I do has that duality, all the way down to the band name."

What's next for Gothic Tropic?

"I'm very excited to have the Fast or Feast LP coming out May 19th, and we're going to be out in UK playing The Great Escape, and a show at The Victoria May 17th. We're just going to be playing a lot this year, which will feel really good; kind of the reward for finishing a record is being able to play it live. That's my favorite part."