New Haven-based band Love N'Co. Photo courtesy Love N'Co.
The song opens with five rich, warm crescendos on the organ, accentuated by cymbal rolls. Then, things settle down for a moment, the guitar begins to vamp, the drums settle into a funky groove, and lead singer Lovelind launches into the verse.
With their track “Identify Crisis,” the New Haven-based band Love N’Co is one of 50 entrants from Connecticut to NPR’s annual Tiny Desk Contest. This is the band’s second time entering the competition after submitting the track “Greater” in 2022. At stake is an opportunity to play at the NPR offices in Washington, D.C., a feature on All Things Considered, and a headline spot on NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour.
The contest is judged by Tiny Desk producers Bobby Carter and Robin Hilton alongside six musicians who previously played on the show—Bobby Wooten, Durand Bernarr, Julien Baker, MUNA, NEFFY, and NIKI. Winners are typically announced in mid- to late-May, and this year the contest also includes a “fan favorite vote.” In the spring, judges will announce a selection of entries which the public can vote on.
“I wrote [‘Identify Crisis’] when I was coming into my own and finding exactly who I am,” said Lovelind. Throughout the song, they describe the feeling of being seen as “just a nameless face” and falling “into a rage,” before realizing they could “tell them you know your own name.”
Lovelind started the band with Lamar Smith in 2019 as a duo. Since then, they have grown to six members—Lovelind singing, Smith on guitar, Allie Brown on bass, Sam Jacobs on keys, Clancy Emanuel on drums, and Nino Ciampa playing percussion. The band currently has three singles available on streaming platforms— “Clueless,” “Chocolate,” and “Koffee”—and has played shows around New England and the Mid-Atlantic.
With a laugh, Lovelind described Love N’Co’s sound as “indie-funk-rock-gospel-punk.”
“I grew up really religious—Seventh Day Adventist—and even if I didn’t agree with the messages being spoken, I always found a way to connect to the music—lots of big sounds, lots of drums, lots of breaths in between,” they said.
“The drama, the flare—I definitely bring all of that into Love N’Co.”
On March 9, Love N’Co will premiere their documentary Spoken: The Story of Unspoken at Best Video Film and Cultural Center in Hamden. The film, shot by Eamon Linehan, tells the story of the making of their forthcoming EP, “Unspoken.” Before the screening, Lovelind and Smith will also play an acoustic set.
“A really good guitar lick can get me to move,” Lovelind said. “I will play that thing over and over again.”