SHANNON MATTHEW VANYA / PHOTO BY MATTHEW CLAMPITT
Shannon Fowler, AKA Shannon Matthew Vanya, has been in the scene for a long time, making music with his first project Tom Lark and producing many popular local releases with his Okie Dokie Studio, collaborating with the likes of Merk, Georgia Lines, Randa, A.C Freazy and more. Last year, he captivated our ears with his release 'It Gets Better' featuring Lévyne, and we have been eager to hear more!
'Saw It In Your Eyes' seems to serve as both a visual and melodic continuation of 'It Gets Better', with crisp drums, groovy acoustic strums and warm synths supporting the most delicious, catchy melodies.
"I had ‘Saw It In Your Eyes’ on my hard drive but I’d sort of shelved it for a bit," says Fowler. “I wasn’t sure where it was going or where to take it but had a nice verse, then one night I had a couple of drinks at an industry event where I met Samuel Flynn Scott (The Phoenix Foundation, Moniker) and extra confidently asked if he wanted to hang out and work on a tune sometime? He said ‘Yeah ok.’ We spent a while deconstructing songs from ‘McCartney 2’ then I showed him this old jam. He just free-styled a verse melody and chorus with that “Saw it in your eyes…” line, but we didn’t get to finish. About a year later I was working on a song with IVES and asked if she might want to sing some BV’s on it, then the song took on heaps of personality."
Vanya once again teams up with Ezra Simons to serve up a wonderful visual accompaniment, featuring the band dressed impeccably, shot through 35mm film, and made with the support of NZ On Air.
Check out the video and song below, as well as the new EP Vanya II which is out now! Stream the single and EP here.
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