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Feb 11, 2021 Nari By Caleb Campbell Photography by Amanda Casey

Bay Area singer/songwriter Nari (born Narisa Khamvanthong) has been releasing a steady stream of new singles through 2019 and 2020, introducing the world to their gentle bedroom pop creations and reverb-laden indie pop. Beginning by just simply writing and uploading songs to SoundCloud, Nari quickly earned some early fans, including a collaboration with Nashville’s Okey Dokey (“I Really Want To Know”). Nari has now returned with a new track “Lower My Expectations,” premiering early with Under the Radar.

With “Lower My Expectations” Nari delivers an anti-love song, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The gentle waltzing guitar rhythm and crooning backing vocals initially point towards a sickly sweet love song, but the lyrics quickly take the track in a different direction. Nari’s lyrics recall flakey dates, lying partners, and lonely nights. Nari wonders if settling is the only option singing, “Maybe I’ll lower my expectations / At least I can’t get hurt / Maybe I’ll lower my expectations / At least I’ll find someone.” On her latest single, Nari crafts the perfect companion to anyone out there frustrated by a lackluster love life, a warm and empathetic touch delivered amidst delicately floating melodies.

Nari says of the song, “I feel like in dating we’re always told to have high standards and to not lower them for anyone, but also told to not have expectations or you’ll just be let down. I had gone on a couple dates with a guy who I thought was a pretty great guy and one day he asked me out and was 40 minutes late…but I sat there and waited on him for that time. I felt extremely stupid and every time after that, he let me down…Since then I’ve been pretty self-aware when I was expecting too much out of someone too early or if I was lowering my standards and expectations just to have someone who will stick around because I am afraid I’ll never find someone.”

“I made the song on Garageband while talking to my best friend, Julia, on Facetime about how much that guy sucked. After I wrote down some lyrics I immediately went to a studio with my band to record it. That’s usually the process, I’ll produce a little demo with all the parts and then my bandmates will reproduce what I did with their own little spice. Speaking of spice, there is a Little Ceasar Zap Pak (the little seasoning they give you with the pizza) that I recorded as the shaker sound that you can hear in the chorus of the song because I thought it’d be funny.” Listen to the song below. “Lower My Expectations” is out February 14th via Park the Van Records.