Philadelphia-rooted songwriter Son Little (aka Aaron Livingston) is opening up to himself on new LP Like Neptune. The genre-fluid artist’s latest collection of songs pushes boundaries of rock, pop, R&B, and blues, and mines the trauma of Livingston’s storied past to illustrate growth and healing through music. Like Neptune’s leading singles “deeper” and “stoned love” are available now, and represent Son Little’s desire to understand more about the human condition.
“One day in therapy I started talking to myself – to that annoying inner voice that criticizes everything when you mess up. I asked them how old they were and they said ‘10,’” says Livingston in a press statement. With a trusted therapist over the years, Son Little learned to confront the deepest and most wounded parts of himself through Internal Family Systems, a methodology that requires the patient to have conversations with their own different traumatized personalities. “Strange as it all seems, it’s had some amazing results. I’m able to soothe and comfort my inner…children.”
Even though it was necessary for Son Little to address his past, and the generational trauma of Black Americans, in Like Neptune, the record has an optimistic and even playful tone – just check out the wordplay on “stoned love.” All thirteen songs began using a beat making app on Livingston’s iPad, and were fleshed out in Ableton under the influence of micro doses of LSD and ‘70s era David Bowie.
Like Neptune comes out in full on September 9th via ANTI-. As part of a North American tour, Son Little is set to play Underground Arts on December 17th. Tickets are available at the WXPN Concerts and Events page. Listen to “deeper” and “stoned love” at the links below.