L Devine tells us “I didn’t feel like I could do my next project justice” because of the pandemic

Having released two club-ready collaborations in a year where dancefloors worldwide shutdown, it’s safe to say L Devine hasn't had the chance to see her potential club hits to really shine.

Aside from the obvious and more pressing financial concerns for venues and all the people that make club nights and live music happen, so many songs and albums haven’t been able to reach their full potential as the only place we've been dancing is home, alone. Dropping “More Life” with Torren Foot and Tinie Tempah in September, and then “Sad Songs” with Route 94, both would have been on heavy rotation in a parallel timeline.

The pandemic put a pause on Devine’s own release schedule with just singles “Don’t Say It” and “Boring People” offered up this year. Pointing towards more promising progressive pop, these tracks are just a teaser as she's been using her newfound time to work on music, with the hope of releasing a longer body of work next year.

Uncertainty stills reigns though, she laughs that “everything could change [again]," when talking to us over Zoom. We caught up with the songwriter to talk all things 2020 and beyond before we unveil the stripped-back session she's recorded for as part of our Off The Road series.

BEST FIT: How are you doing? What are you up to right now?

DEVINE: I’m alright. I’m in London right now working and stuff, just at the studio. It’s been pretty fun and I’ve been able to keep working so as long as I get to keep doing that, it’s good.

Despite everything you’ve still managed to drop some new music this year too.

Yeah I felt like it was a really good time to jump on some features, jump on some collaborations and keep getting music out there. I didn’t feel like I could do my next project justice within all the restrictions. They’ve both been really fun, so I’ve managed to keep quite busy, but it has been pretty chill.

How did “Sad Songs” with Route 94 happen?

At the start of lockdown I got sent a rough demo of it with half of the song written. People know I write all my own songs and I’m not really one for taking songs, but I was a big fan of Route 94. When I was starting to go clubbing and stuff “My Love” was a huge track and I’ve been a huge fan of his since. I gave it a listen and I was like ‘woah, this really speaks to me’. I was going through a break up at the time, when I got sent the song, so it was really cathartic to hear that and relate to the words. I knew how to finish it straight away, I knew what I wanted to add to it and stuff. It felt really natural.

What was shooting the video like with all the restrictions in place?

I’m not 100% sure when it’s coming out, but it’s such a difficult time with dance music. A lot of dance music videos, there needs to be a lot of people and obviously now is not the time to get crowds together, so it’s weird at the moment to try and do videos for dance songs. Hopefully, it’ll look really cool.

How have you found releasing music without being able to play many live shows?

I guess it’s made people think outside the box and think of new and interesting ways to get your music out there. Everyone’s in the same boat, aren’t they? I miss it so much though, playing live is my favourite thing. I forgot how good it was to hear the crowd sing back to you. I was lucky enough to do a gig in Newcastle in September, for this outdoor socially distance festival, [This Is Tomorrow Festival], with 2,000 people. It was my favourite gig I’ve ever done, because everyone was so gagging for it.

It was like pig pens almost with six people, so went in your household and they were all separated, so it looked massive. I went to see Sam Fender, when he played, and it’s kind of like having your own VIP section. There’s certain music where you wanna be squished up against some randomers and getting all sweaty, but at the time it suited me quite nicely.

You did a URL tour as well early in the year, wow, that seems like such a long time ago.

Totally. A different lifetime. For me it felt like a no brainer and the reaction to it was unreal and I remember waking up the next day with loads of media wanting to talk about it. I was meant to be going on tour with FLETCHER, then going on my own tour, and the point of the FLETCHER tour and most support tours is to get your music out to a different fanbase and audiences. I thought in the same way I could do something similar on social media and tour different platforms ‘cause there’s a different audience on Tik Tok than there is on Twitter.

What’s been going on behind the scenes this year?

Loads of things change all the time, but I have been working on a mixtape which has quite a lot of tracks on it, they could whittle it down to three. We’re gonna scatter some songs across the year and drop the mixtape at some point. I’m so excited. It feels like it’s been ages.

The songs I released this year as L Devine, like “Don’t Say It” I’d been sitting on that since 2017. It takes so long to put these songs out, so the ones that are going on this mixtape I am so ready for. I feel like I’ve lived with them for so long and it feels like a really cool progression from the last stuff.

In this hellish year, what was your highlight?

I know this might sound lame, but I’ve lived in London for four years and I never saw my family, only at Christmas, so it’s been so unreal to be with them again and re-connect. I just feel like northern families, it’s such a close knit thing and I can’t describe it, but we all live on the same couple of streets and I see them every single day. Sometimes it’s a bit much, but when I’m away from it I just wanna be around them. They’re truly my best friends and I just love being surrounded by the kids, my sister, my cousin, my mum, my dad...They’ve definitely been my saviour.

What are you most looking forward to next year?

Going on out on the road. Just going out man, I miss the club, but I just wanna go out and hear those features in a club. It’s such a shame that I released two club bangers and then not hear them in the context they’re meant to be heard in. The “More Life”, Tinie Tempah and Torren Foot one, I just know that would bang so hard in a club. Maybe I’ll put on a little night and play those songs back to me.