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Jul 06, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Cynthia Villamil

NZCA Lines, the solo project of producer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Lovett, has announced the release of his EP, Universal Heartbreak, and shared a self-directed music video for a new song, “Push Reset.” Universal Heartbreak is due out September 22 via Memphis Industries. Lovett will also play a London show at The Lower Third on September 21. Check out the video below, followed by the EP’s tracklist and the single’s cover artwork.

Lovett is also a permanent member of Metronomy and performs in Christine and the Queens’ touring band.

The music video for “Push Reset” was filmed outside Lovett’s Brooklyn apartment building, which features NZCA Lines in a cinematic time-loop, as the drama of an unseen relationship plays out through his onscreen actions. The song takes a step back from Lovett’s previous releases, offering a more stripped back sound with piano and ’90s inspired hip-hop drums.

Of the EP, Lovett says in a press release: “Each of these songs started life on a Wurlitzer electric piano and 808 drum machine. I wanted to strip back my songwriting and directly express my experience over the past couple of years, which have been difficult for everyone to a greater or lesser extent. My version of this lives through the music on Universal Heartbreak: emotions I’ve had to process, frustration, anger or sadness I’ve had to work through. These songs are also inextricably linked with New York City and my life there between 2020-23, so self-directing a video in front of my apartment building seemed like an apt visual.”

“I like the idea of releasing music as a time capsule, as an expression of my current life. Conversely, it’s very hard for me to finish music, to say ‘this is good enough, share it’—there’s always a voice telling me that it’s not. By releasing a series of EPs, I’m trying to shorten the length of time between creating music and releasing it, to obsess less and embrace spontaneity”.

NZCA’s last LP was 2020’s Pure Luxury.

Read our COVID-19 Quarantine Check-In interview with NZCA LINES.

Universal Heartbreak EP Tracklist:

1. Push Reset
2. Overloaded
3. Universal Heartbreak

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