With quarantine separating loved ones and bringing about wistful feelings for most, music is one of the only things that continues to bring us together. When it comes to tapping into these emotions, New York’s own prettyboyshav is and continues to be unequivocally transcendent. With his new single, is it raining where you are? serving as a follow up to his heartthrob hits, white nails, supernova, and 4runner, Shav effortlessly provokes an emotional journey through the realities of love and distance. Finally making his debut here on Chiefers amidst a sound comparable to indie-pop stars The 1975, Rence, and Phangs, Shav continues to impress tugging at your heartstrings and truly engulfing you in a full-body experience.
One of the most notable things about Shav is that he continues to stay true to himself within the spotlight. With each and every single building off of the narrative that is authentically him, prettyboyshav serves as a platform for Shav to share his life experiences with the world over his incredibly catchy, melodic approach to art while remaining unafraid to push the boundaries of typical masculine norms and vulnerability.
After having the chance to speak with Shav, conversation surrounding a project in the works may or may not have been a topic of discussion (it was). In fact, this single serves as the final piece of the puzzle in preparation for his upcoming project, too pretty for sunshine, which is set to release in the coming months.
After asking him about the title, is it raining where you are? and his writing process, Shav gave us some incredible insight into those experiences that led him to where we are today:
the name came from friends in Austin at SXSW in 2018. i was hanging out with a friend and she wanted to get a tattoo and i wanted to get a nose ring. She said, “If it’s raining tomorrow, let’s do it.” I’m not sure why. lol. but the next day, at a Gus Dapperton outdoor set, it started to lightly drizzle…on a literal level i was like, “i wonder if it’s raining where she is.” Outside of that, the writing process of this song came about as a kindred spirit of “white nails.” kind of like twins with different personalities. the essence of both were captured the same day, 24 hours after I got my nails painted bright white for the first time. i was with Sage and his beat stopped my heart. it was liberating. i felt free—or closer to it. ready to process. white nails knocked on the door of freedom. “is it raining” crossed a moat to get us there.
If you haven’t yet heard of prettyboyshav, you will definitely become familiar soon. In fact, I would encourage you to listen through his current catalog. If you’re like me and appreciate great music when it’s put in front of you, I guarantee you will quickly become a fan. To keep up with prettyboyshav be sure to follow him on Instagram and Twitter! Otherwise, you can stream the new record below:
Here’s the Spotify link for those that use Spotify.