Rhode Island-bred Lainey Dionne is an indie pop singer/songwriter from a small town you’ve probably never heard of. A millennial musician that writes “the sort of music that immediately makes you forget that you left a burning oven on” (Verge), her songs paint a picture of the playlist you steal from your trendy friend.
Lainey’s 12 song album “Self Titled” is a roller coaster ride of raw, honest emotions that come with toxic and healthy relationships. “I chose ‘Self Titled’ as the name for my album because I am not defined by my exes, they do not represent my name, but they did shape me into the person I am today, through the good and the bad- and now that I’ve come out the other side, I feel entitled to myself again”. Three singles from the album have been nominated and won numerous awards. Foreign fling bop “Hey London” won the International Songwriting Competition, Unsigned Only Competition and was nominated for 2021 NEMA Song of the Year. Dark pop ballad “Skin” won the New England Songwriting Competition and was a semifinalist in the Unsigned Only Competition along with finalist toxic hit ”I Love You To Death”. A New England girl at heart, Lainey is not afraid to speak her mind through her songs. She has one goal- to make you feel, and this album will do just that.
How would you describe your music?
I would describe my music as a photograph. Each song is a snapshot of a time in my life- either when I was crying over a boy, madly in love with a boy, or exploring who I am as a person. Some songs on my album are about being fed up with relationships and those ones have a pop punk vibe, some songs are heartfelt and have more of an acoustic singer/songwriter vibe. I don’t try to stick to a genre but rather try to stay authentic to myself. If I had to choose, I’d blanket it as Indie Pop. Listen to my latest album “Self Titled” and let me know what you think of my sound!
What are your top two favorite albums of all time? Why those albums?
Ghost Stories by Coldplay and Melodrama by Lorde. Both have exceptionally great songwriting, do not sound like anything else out there, and are totally underrated as projects. I will not skip one song on either album, they are both just perfection.
If we were to look at the artists you are listening to, who would be on your playlist?
Gracie Abrams, Heather Sommer, Lauv, Ed Sheeran, Tommy Lefroy, Annika Wells, and Astrid S.
Have you written songs for any other artists?
Right now I’m writing a lot for TV shows, however, I did write a song for one artist who is also a good friend of mine. Alexa Cappelli released an amazing EP called “Confused @ 22” and we wrote “broke & lonely” together for that project. Very proud of that song, it’s one of my faves and has over half a million streams!
Do you enjoy recording and production?
I love recording. I went to Berklee College of Music for Music Business and Production and I am obsessed. I’m not so much on DAWs nowadays, however, I am heavily involved in the vocal production of all of my tracks. You can easily hear what I’m talking about if you listen to my single “Video Game” – you’ll hear all sorts of layered vocals in the background. In my songs “Senti(mental)” and “Skin” you can hear what I call sung ha-ha-ha’s in the back of the track, but really any single one of my tracks will have these huge vocal productions. In my latest track “Vampire” you’ll hear what sounds like a crowd of people shouting in the chorus and that’s really just me shouting in different voices and accents!
If you could be a superhero, what would your superpower be and your superhero name?
Definitely would want the power to teleport because I love traveling and hate long plane rides (it’s impossible to sleep in those seats and airplane bathrooms are the worst). I have zero clue what my superhero name would be. I feel like I would be too awkward to name myself something cool so I’d be known as “that weird girl who’s there one second, then gone” which isn’t too far off from who I am now.
If you had to describe yourself as a flavor, what would it be?
Oh, this is a good one. I feel like definitely one of the jelly beans you can’t quite put your finger on what it tastes like in a package of Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans.
What makes you nostalgic?
The smell of grass- which is strange because you can smell grass any time right now. There’s just something about the smell of grass that brings me back to when everything was sunny and brighter as a kid in the 90s.
As a kid were you ever frightened of a monster under the bed or in the cupboard?
Do you mean the ghost in my basement? Yeah, enough said.
Are you a valuable asset on a Pub Quiz team?
I am great with European history and current Pop culture- but nothing in between haha!