Los Angeles alt-pop artist Luna Shadows confronts anxiety with a bit of light nostalgia on her new single, “The Nineties”. Shadows creates thoroughly modern pop songs steeped in a wistful essence that hint at the power of nostalgia amongst her generation. That sensibility is understandable as we live through a period of turbulence, change, and fear. So many things seem like they are out to get you, but we need to try to stay upbeat as the best way to conquer the stress and sleepless nights. “The Nineties” features bubbling, bouncy beats as Shadows weaves her enigmatic vocals amongst the textures. It’s the latest single from her upcoming LP, Digital Pacific, and the video sports the singer as video game character in a ’90s aesthetic.
Shadows says, “I never forget a fear, starting with my earliest visions of how I might go: falling into lava or quicksand, two scenes that the ’90s video games of my childhood painted as fairly possible outcomes,” says Shadows. “I wrote this song at a time when I was experiencing such debilitating bouts of hypervigilance that the simple act of leaving my home felt frightening. Everything everywhere was out to get me. So many things could go wrong in a day: car accidents, shark attacks, lightning strikes, drowning, losing loved ones. I go through periods where I pull every and any nearby fear into focus. The attempt to fit as many of these fears as possible into an upbeat production for ‘The Nineties’ was a very deliberate act intended to help me view myself with a lighter heart, to take back some control, and to laugh in the face of my anxious habits.”