Track-By-Track: Dom Youdan

Born in London, based out of Sydney, Australia has more or less claimed Dom Youdan as our own art-pop child. His new EP, ‘Tigerlily’ is a stunning interpretation of sounds that resemble the intelligent structures Grizzly Bear. Youdan gave AAA Backstage an exclusive track-by-track breakdown of his new EP.

The EP

It’s an EP that’s trying to show the two sides of who I am. It’s raw and emotional at times, but at others it’s quite loose and a lot of fun. At the centre of it, ‘Tigerlily’ is trying to look at love in a slightly different way, in its elation as well as its insecurities.

I think ‘Tigerlily’ best represents me as a singer-songwriter. I’m proud of the lyrics and the introspective way it looks at love. Don’t Love Me is my other side, a little more, ‘windows down, volume up’. They are the two sides of the coin I want to stand for. 

Don’t Love Me

I wanted this song to captures the whirlwind of an early relationship, the beat is euphoric but the lyrics are a contradiction, talking of the fear of rejection. The song sings about two lovers who each think the other isn’t interested. They both fall down the rabbit hole without realising the other is right next to them.

The song tries to represent a whole bunch of emotions at once, because that’s what love can often feel like. I worked with my close friend and fiercely talented artist Bec Sandridge to really represent a female’s perspective in the second verse. The sentiment needed to be unilateral and androgynous.

The Boy is Mine

I think there’s something really interesting in a guy offering his take on such an iconically female track. Xavier Dunn (producer) and I really wanted to put our own stamp on it, while still very much saluting the original and what it stands for. I still don’t think the song gets enough credit. For me it’s one of the greatest R&B tracks of all time.

It’s an absolute monster to sing, but that’s part of the reason I fell in love with the song in the first place. There’s nothing better than belting out one of its lines at the top of your lungs. Hopefully, people will want to sing along with me.

Tigerlily

Love for me is this extremely personal emotion, even though you share it with someone. Tigerlily’s about the conversation you have with yourself; that moment you realise your heart is hooked on someone. It’s an incredible but really daunting moment.

The song is about moving to Australia and following my heart. But most of all, it’s about being honest with how I was feeling at the time. It still means a hell of a lot to me.

Set You Free

Set You Free is all about the spark, the chance encounter, the first kiss. It tries to be a lot of fun, and a lot looser with love. I think it’s a song that is all about the moment, just before you start to realise what it all means.

Baby Are You Ready

This is very much a track with no strings attached. I intentionally wanted to the lyrics to feel uncomplicated, to just seem innocent and fun. The song is about two people who don’t care about tomorrow.