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A wise man outside a street corner bodega somewhere once said that when one door closes, another one opens. And that appears to be the case for Boston musician Layto, who drops a thunder boom today in the sonic shape of new single “Little Poor Me”, an alt-rock, pop, and hip-hop hybrid joint that addresses his personal experience with the aftermath of a breakup. That love affair may have concluded, but ours has just begun.
“I wrote this song on the heels breakup, but still feeling as if I couldn’t move on, like she had a stranglehold on me,” Layto says. “That time, felt like she turned me into someone I’m not. I just wanted to speak my truth and hopefully the audience hears that. It’s a ‘manthem’ — guys don’t usually want to talk about breakups or their emotions when they happen, so that’s what this is, honest account.”
The visually-striking video, directed by Bobby Hanaford, was filmed Jackson Browne’s childhood home outside Los Angeles. And it reflects the notion that relationships, and the fallout from their usually inevitable demise, can play mind games on all involved. And perception is susceptible to interpretation.
“I wanted to play on the idea of ‘smoke and mirrors’, so the actress I am kissing in the opening scene is not really what she seems to be,” Layto adds. “She is really the ‘witch’ character. The young actress [Ariel Yasmine] represents beauty externally, the witch represents her ‘internally’. This is all metaphoric for my relationship with my ex. I wanted to capture how a guy, in this case me, can be conflicted by so many different versions of the girl, and how you sometimes can feel like a slave to it. That was the sentiment behind it.”
Confront your own post-breakup hangups with the single and vide below, and catch Layto live at New Haven’s College Street Music Hall on October 23 and at The Met in Pawtucket on October 25.