Lucy Fitzgerald 
Hi! “unlucky” opens with the sound of tarot cards being shuffled—what inspired that choice, and how does it set the tone for the rest of the song?
A: Hey! So happy to do this interview! The shuffling of tarot cards opening “unlucky” was something I went back and forth on when I was figuring out the “non-musical” sound for this song. Across all my music, every single song has some sort of a non-musical element, whether that be the shuffling of tarot cards like in “unlucky” or the sound of the wind rushing in “red flag”. It’s a fun little easter egg that I include in all my songs and it’s something I really enjoy doing. I was between casino sounds—slot machine noises specifically—and tarot deck shuffling for this song, but I really felt like this song didn’t exist in a casino environment. I pondered a lot, on what sound we could land on, and tarot deck felt most connected, and ended up influencing the album artwork too!
This track feels like a diary entry wrapped in synths and irony. How did you balance humor and heartbreak while writing something so personal?
A: I honestly think the humor is just my natural demeanor? You’re not the first person to tell me that there is a bit of humor in this track, which, when writing the lyrics, I really didn’t try to make it humorous. I feel like I’ve been in this weird unlucky dating space for a really long time, so at a certain point it becomes something you poke fun at, and acknowledge the absolute absurdity that is your own love life. At the same time, I am quite disheartened by my lack of love, so when I dove into writing this song I just allowed myself to be extremely honest with how I felt. The balance comes from a mixture of my own frustration and my ability to not take myself too seriously. It ended up being magical in this case.
“unlucky” feels like a continuation of a larger story about love and identity. How does this single expand on the themes of agency and self-worth, especially through the lens of queer relationships?
A: From a young age, I always had the thought that my person was out there, somewhere. I’m a hopeless romantic at heart, but I kept finding myself losing more and more of that certainty that there was someone for me when I kept having poor luck with love. At some point you see all your friends in relationships around you, and you’re the only one who isn’t, so you start to think, “do I deserve a partner?” or “my dating pool is so small but I still can’t find someone, what am I doing wrong?” As the years have passed, I’ve worked really hard at redirecting that line of thinking if I wander towards it, just because I haven’t met someone yet, doesn’t mean I won’t someday, and that someone may not be “my person”, there may be no one in the world who is “my person” but there is someone out there who I’ll fall in love with and will love me right back. Allowing yourself to have that hope is so important, especially in the queer community because there are so many young queer kids who are growing up in environments where they absolutely cannot be themselves, and need to have that hope to survive each day until they can get to a place where they are accepted.
The lyrics in “unlucky” are both sharp and deeply vulnerable. How do you approach writing lyrics that are emotionally honest while still maintaining a strong sense of voice and style?
A: I’m really secure in my sound. I know what feels like my music and what doesn’t, because of this, it allows me to really expand on what I’m feeling when writing. I am a big believer of saying what you mean, and saying it in a way that is authentic to you. When I’m writing a line, especially a line with a first person POV song, I ask myself, would I actually say this? Is this how I would say it to someone in a conversation? Usually the answer is yes, and it leads to really raw songs that are genuine to who I am. At my core, I am emotionally honest, I’m not great at hiding how I feel or what I think, and 9 times out of 10 if you ask me a direct question, I’ll give you a direct answer. I think a lot of my writing reflects that.
How did working with Markus Bergström as producer help shape the emotional and sonic palette of “unlucky”?
A: Markus is so great! We went back and forth on the track as much as possible. I provided a lot of references, almost too many if I’m being honest, and we really nailed down what felt right before diving into the whole track. I was included in every decision and we had a pretty long discussion before production started just going over what the song meant, what emotions I was trying to tap into, and which specific textural elements felt authentic to the message. Anytime I write anything, once I bring it to a producer, I always tell them in some round-a-bout way, “this may be my song but you are an integral part of the process, if there is something that needs to shift around, then let’s try it and see what happens?” it means that lyrics get moved, or chords get changed, and it allows us to create something even more beautiful. With “unlucky” Markus shifted around the order of the lines in the chorus a bit, had the hook repeat a bit more, and it made all the difference.
There’s a spoken-word element to some of the verses, almost like inner monologue—was that a deliberate choice to mirror the confessional vibe of the song?
A: It was definitely a deliberate choice. Part of me wanted this track to feel almost conversational, like I was catching up with a friend on my dating life, listing the short-comings and the frustrations. The other part of me, really just wanted to yell out my frustrations to the world. I wanted to work through what I was feeling and how absolutely hopeless my love life felt (and still feels). When writing this, I started in a conversational space and then shifted to an inner monologue towards the end, almost like, no one was giving me reassurance that everything was going to work out, so I had to do it myself.
Queer dating is a central theme in the track. What are some of the misconceptions or frustrations about queer relationships that you wanted to highlight?
A: These days it does tend to feel like everyone is queer to some degree, and while we’re definitely seeing a larger group within society that is fluid with their sexuality, I still think the dating pools are quite small. It’s pretty common in the queer space I exist in, especially in the lesbian community, that I see the same people popping up on dating apps, or I’ll go on a date with someone and we’ll have the same ex, it’s a pretty normal thing for us, but it does make dating kind of frustrating. Within dating apps, you often see straight couples looking for a third for their threesome, and it’s just exhausting because for the majority of lesbians I know, we are absolutely NOT looking for that when we are going on dating apps. It kind of feels like we’re being reduced to a fantasy that these couples have and it really sucks a lot of the energy out of using a dating app. I wanted to hold up a lens to that, share my frustration towards it, and take the power back with the sarcastic line of “stop asking if I want to be your third” at the end of the second verse. I never heard any artist speak on it before, and I thought it was time.
Friday the 13th feels like the perfect release date for “unlucky”. Was that symbolic timing planned from the beginning?
A: The release date was absolutely symbolic! My label, Rexius Records, proposed a release date of June 16th for this track, and I immediately offered up June 13th because it seemed too perfect to not release on a Friday the 13th. They loved the idea and actually agreed wholeheartedly that it was a better release date so here we are!
Self-awareness plays a big role in “unlucky.” How do you navigate writing about your own role in relationship dynamics while still telling a story that others can connect with?
A: When I set out to write this, I really wanted to make sure that I acknowledged that the blame for my romantic failures is not and was not one sided. I wanted to hold up a mirror to myself, and to help any listeners who may also be unlucky with love have access to that mirror too… It’s easy to say that you did nothing wrong, that it was all the other person, but that’s rarely ever the case. I know that I will never be successful in love if I don’t take accountability for my parts in relationships. Throughout “unlucky” I walked a line of, I keep meeting the wrong person at the wrong time, but also I’m meeting the right person at the wrong time, that I could be the one who is the wrong person for my prospective partner. It felt really vulnerable to kind of list out what I am aware are my flaws, some of which are pretty ingrained into who I am as a person, that I’m not sure I could ever change. Real love is flawed, and it does no one any good to ignore flaws in a partner, it’s about loving someone for those flaws, and despite those flaws.
Alt-z meets electropop in this track, with glitchy, dreamy layers. What artists or sounds influenced the direction you took with “unlucky”?
A: We had a whole mega list of songs for inspiration! Most of them were from artists that came from that dark and synthy soundscape in their music. Allie X, Dove Cameron, and Emeline were the primary artists that I drew a lot of inspiration with. For specific songs I would say Black Eye by Allie X, Bad Idea by Dove Cameron, and Feelings by Emeline. All three artists are ones that I look up to so much, they are incredible not just in talent but also with who they are as people. I hope to work with any of them one day, I would jump at the opportunity to just write one line of something with any of them, they are so brilliant.
Listening to songs so you don’t have to! Just kidding :D, you totally should. Music blogger by day, nurse by night
