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Lionel Boy x SHADOWBOXING

Following the release of his debut album last year, Hawaiian-born, Long Beach-based songwriter Lionel Boy is back today with  news of two new EPs. The first 'Up at 4' is out April 29th and the second 'Down at 8' is out June 17th via Innovative Leisure. The first single from 'Up at 4', "SHADOWBOXING" is streaming online now. 

Speaking about the track, Lionel Boy said "I’ve been trying to write a song like 'SHADOWBOXING' for a long time. Something that would feel both nostalgic to me and new at the same time. When I first started playing music it was always the guitar riffs that grabbed my attention and I think the same happened with SHADOWBOXING. Growing up in Hawaii, you automatically take things slower. No rush, no worries...until you piss someone off, then they’ll go 0 to 100. We’re both quick to relax and quick to rush in. This song isn’t about one thing in particular, but some observations I’ve made in myself and in those back home. I know a lot of us are just dealing with our own things, fighting our own demons...shadowboxing."

Lionel Boy x Lionel Boy

The Hawaiian-born, Long Beach-based songwriter Lionel Boy releases his debut album Lionel Boy via Innovative Leisure. Lionel Boy’s sound mixes spacey synthesizers, impromptu breakbeats & bedroom pop. The airy, jazz-cracked, electronic pop of Lionel Boy belies a wistful romanticism, a careful observational streak, and a meditative fixation on life and death. Lionel Boy is soulful and easy-going, both introspective and laissez faire, extremely mellow but never soft-headed.

Lionel Boy x Kam Highway

The Hawaiian native and Long Beach based songwriter Lionel Boy has announced that his debut self-titled album will be released on May 14, 2021 via Innovative Leisure. To celebrate the announcement, he shares with us his second single of 2021, “Kam Highway”. 
The synth heavy and ethereal track is the follow up to the laid back “Flower Girl,” released in March. “Kam Highway” highlights Lionel’s sultry baritone capabilities and is set against a reverb-drenched backdrop of airy synth textures, extra low bass, and a heavy beat laced with trap elements.
“Back home in Hawaii, one of the main highways we have is called Kam Highway.” Lionel Boy shares. “For me, it connected the two places I grew up in—Waialua and Wahiawa. It’s my favorite drive in the whole world. I hadn’t done much previous work on my own with synths or beat making but it was something I’d been wanting to try. When I started working on the song, it sounded a lot like a long, dark road and the first one that came to mine was the one I’d been taking my whole life.”
The visual companion to “Kam Highway” was directed by Joanna Nguyen. “‘Kam Highway’ was shot over a span of three days on my home island of Oahu, Hawaii by my awesome friend Joanna Nguyen. It’s funny - I grew up in “paradise” wanting nothing more than to escape it. I’ve driven many roads looking for an exit only to realize—you can’t run from what’s inside.”
Pre-order Lionel Boy HERE.