PREMIERE: Lea Neu - "Dizzy" — HEART EYES MAGAZINE

By Erin Christie

Dizzy: Used as a metaphor to a relationship being so complicated it feels like you’re constantly spinning or running.

Lea Neu’s “Dizzy” is a breath of fresh (albeit sugar-coated) air.

Of the age of Clairo, King Princess, and other bubblegum pop powerhouses, Lea Neu capitalizes on the trend and approaches it with her own individual take.

Brimming with coming-of-age excellence, “Dizzy” touches on the dizzying feelings that accompany tumultuous relationships in which you’re ultimately never fully stationary. Love, as the greats have said, is a “battlefield” and that’s something Neu isn’t a stranger to.

Drawing on lo-fi calling cards, the track has an infectious melody that, from the gate, you can find yourself shimmying along to.

In the music video, too—from lavish costume changes in the back of a vehicle to wistful walks amongst an autumnal landscape—“Dizzy” seeps distinct laissez-faire which makes it infectious.

Though musically and visually, “Dizzy” is a candy-coated daydream, the song’s material takes a different direction: it’s vulnerable, genuine, and cutting. In relationships such as the one Neu is describing, one might find themselves losing their mind with an endless stream of questions; wondering if they’re doing enough, if they are enough. It’s an unhealthy cycle, but one that’s all too common.

“The way you love me, is it silent or a scream?” Neu ponders.

Under the guise of an alt-indie hit, Neu delves into her personal struggles with this exact dilemma: while she dances around, supposedly carefree, she’s “stuck in her head” and essentially driving herself crazy. Haven’t we all been there?

Director Kate Gondwe and Neu attempted to recreate the various stages of a break-up with the single’s music video: “We tried to make it subtle by using different film techniques and moods to tell the story. I enjoy the slice-of-life style of filmmaking along with a creative direction and I hope that comes across,” Gondwe says.

Gondwe took inspiration from music video directors such as Zia Anger, Ashley Connor, Eva Michon, and photographer Olivia Bee (who shot Maggie Rogers’ debut album cover) in using color, movement, and tone to “create the playful world of ‘Dizzy.’”

“We are really trying to stress that we shot on 16mm and 8mm using various mediums to create the video and the Kodak 500T & 7219 stock,” Gondwe continues. With having been shot so meticulously and in this style, the video retains a warm glow, paralleling Neu’s own vocal quality—experiencing the two together is like sipping warm tea or taking a nap in the sun (as Neu herself has experience with).

Through discussing the various stages of this relationship, Neu is almost always alone until, in the end, she’s surrounded by friends. Once she lets go, she can return to what really matters: her connections with the people that mean the most to her.

Even when you’re “dizzy” and caught up in a whirlwind of emotions, your friends will always be the ones to bring you back to earth.

Both Lea Neu and Kate Gondwe attend classes at Emerson College in Boston, MA - what they lack in years of experience, they make up for in drive, spunk, and absolute creative prowess. If anything’s for certain, it’s that Boston is teeming with untapped potential; Lea Neu is a great example of what’s lying just underneath the surface.

Keep up to date with Lea Neu and stream “Dizzy” NOW!