Luvi! on ‘Su Tinder’, not being bound by genre and integrity over charts

“I’m working on convincing myself that if something I release doesn’t perform as expected, it’s not my fault. I make music because it makes me feel good. After all, I like sharing pieces of myself with others. But expecting too much takes away the spontaneity,” states Ludovica Massidda— or Luvi!, for those who follow her music — as we catch up about her newly released single, ‘Su Tinder’.

The Sardinian-born musician picked up the violin before she discovered she could sing; the rest is music. Studying classical music from age seven, she quickly became a multi-instrumentalist — piano, violin, guitar, you name it — and went on to become a certified music teacher.

Her project, Luvi!, she tells us, was born out of a fateful encounter with Italian producer Andrea Piraz, during her time as a violinist in the orchestral ensemble of Italian band, The Dancefloor Stompers. Piraz liked her ‘rock and roll’ look, unusual for a classical violinist, and promised to call if something came up — and it did.

In 2018, she signed with Italian label Solid Music and officially began her music career, releasing her debut single ‘Maledetta’ in 2021 — her first track as a solo singer-songwriter.

Following the single’s success, she released fourteen more songs — ‘Cuore Cadillac’, ‘La Mia Verità’, and ‘Le Mie Ultime Parole’ (feat. Doll Kill) among them — distributed by ADA Music Italy, each one reflecting a different genre. In August 2022, she won the Fortuna Music Award — an Italian festival and competition aimed at promoting and supporting emerging independent artists — taking home all three of the event’s top honours.

If there’s one word to describe Luvi!, it’s versatile. She renounces the idea of sticking to any specific musical influence, and her outright refusal to be boxed into a single genre — from pop to jazz to hip-hop — is a core feature of her artistry.

“I don’t care what genre I’m tackling; I care that what I’m saying gets through, and that it can appeal to people of all ages. That’s why I explore multiple genres — not because I’m unsure of who I want to be. On the contrary, I’m very sure about it,” she tells us.

Her lyrics are in her native Italian, and far from being a barrier, it’s a compelling stance — a refreshing way of looking at her practice. This boundary-free outlook also shapes her influences: “It might sound strange, but I don’t draw inspiration from anyone specifically, neither lyrically nor musically. I take a little from everything I like listening to. I grew up with my dad playing 80s music for me since I was in the womb, and I later realised that genre laid the foundation for a lot of today’s music. But I don’t have a specific artist I look up to,” she affirms.

This inherent freedom has opened infinite doors for exploration, and ‘Su Tinder’, her newest single, paints that picture vividly. Recounting how the song made her laugh at first, as she stood in a studio booth in Milan, Luvi! explains how the track became an exploration of someone stuck in a cycle of shallow, dating app-fuelled relationships, and constant longing, “I imagined this person who feels unfulfilled in life, especially in love, constantly searching for something new and ruining the good things they already have. Because often, it's the little things that bring us the most joy, and we don’t even notice,” she explains.

The single, built on a sonically minimalistic base to give gravitas to the lyrics, pokes fun at the disposable culture of modern dating. Consciously gender-neutral in her writing — a particularly poignant choice in a gendered language like Italian — Luvi! notes that she tries to use neutral language as much as possible so everyone can relate to her songs. Fittingly, the vocals were recorded in one take: when it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.

Despite not having a particularly prominent online presence, Luvi! has already garnered a dedicated fanbase who resonates with her lyrics: “I don’t have a massive following on Instagram, but I walk around and someone recognises me and says, ‘Aren’t you that singer?’ They might not even follow me online, but they heard my music and liked it. That, to me, is proof that people remember you for what you do, not just your social presence.”

With hopes to one day perform at the coveted MI AMI Festival, as well as Italy’s May Day Concert on Labour Day (Concerto del Primo Maggio), she’s also setting her sights further afield: “I’d love to sing outside of Italy too — in France, in Spain, or other countries. I think my music is versatile enough to work internationally,” she affirms.

Like many artists, Luvi! is acutely aware of the challenges artists face within the music industry — and feels them deeply. So when asked what’s next musically, the imperative word is reflection, “I’m watching the scene, seeing emerging artists grow. And I’m a bit scared — not because of competition, but because I see so many artists fall into depression and struggle to recover. It’s sad, and I understand why. Making music is beautiful, but it requires a lot of self-confidence and mental strength. I do have those, but I also have a constant fear of not being enough."

Luvi! expresses a need to be herself, unfiltered and unafraid, with integrity. If that leads to more people listening, so be it — but she’s not chasing charts, “I hope my audience grows along with my artistic integrity — that more people resonate with what I have to say and feel free to express themselves. I want to be myself. I want to be a spark: a singer is a voice for others. So if I ever have the chance to reach more people, I want to do it for something good.”

And perhaps soon, at a UK venue near you, you’ll certainly want to swipe right on Luvi!

‘Su Tinder’ is now available on all streaming platforms. You can find Luvi! on Instagram.

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WORDS MARTINA PILLONI & BEA VASQUES

PHOTOS MARTINA PILLONI