Olivia Kaplan examines convenience and contentment in new single “Comfort Food”

It’s been a year since singer-songwriter Olivia Kaplan last released music, but the Los Angeles native makes a welcome return with the stunningly emotive “Comfort Food”. Enlisting a team of bandmates plus some of her favourite L.A musicians to contribute their skills, the new track sees Kaplan somehow delve into a deeper intimacy in the wake of her 2018 EP At The Seams. Derived from a serendipitous commute in the midst of a Californian heatwave, “Comfort Food” captures an aching vulnerability in its refrained, jazz-inflected arrangement.

“Like a true Angelino, I started this song in my car on a 103-degree day in Los Angeles. The AC only worked when the car was running, so to stay cool my options were to burn gas in neutral or drive around aimlessly. Both seemed wasteful and for some reason getting out of the car wasn't an option,” shares Kaplan of the track’s inception.

“Essentially, this song was inspired by ideas around air conditioning, nostalgia, and the indulgences that bring us comfort physically and mentally when we're feeling stuck”.

One thing that doesn’t stem from comfort however, is the accompanying video for “Comfort Food”. For all its symbolic connection with another, the visuals are simultaneously grotesque and arresting. “I've been eager to release it with quality visual accompaniment, and I was very lucky that Urvashi Pathania, a team of talented USC film students and my dear friends donated their time to this project,

“Urvashi, my friend and director for this video, looked at these ideas around nostalgia through a portrait of a broken relationship. It captures a woman in constant review of a relationship she knows is ending, whilst her desert nymph friends wipe her tears and witness the spiral”. And fortunately for Kaplan’s fans, there’s more where “Comfort Food” has came from.

“Let’s just say, it’s my (very) dramatic debut. The song was kind of a stand-alone for me, very spacious and cinematic. We're releasing it in anticipation of an LP i’m finishing at the moment. Once that’s done i’m hoping to start touring it”.