Olivia Mason is based in Nottingham, UK and creates soul-inspired pop under her artist name LYVIA. Her music unravels the many layers of queer identity and relationships through both ballads and bangers with visceral storytelling and emotive vocals. My favourite songs from her are Monday2Sunday, Little White Lie, Flight With My Ex and Rock With Me.
Tonight is your last show of the UK headline tour. How are you feeling?
I always get a bit more nervous for the London shows. I think it’s because I’m not a Londoner, so I feel more nervous here anyway. All in all, I’m just excited! I want to enjoy it with the fans and the people who are here to support. I’ve got a surprise up my sleeve for halfway through the set, so hopefully everyone enjoys that too.
(For the surprise, she brought out NSG to sing “Venus” with her!)
Your first mixtape Honey, I’m Home has just come out. In the lead up, you released singles as ‘bundles’ of 3-track EPs. Why did you choose to roll out the singles in this way?
It’s overwhelming to give so many songs at one time, especially when you’re new to releasing music. It was done to package them up into more digestible releases for my audience. The mixtape is overall a different sound from my earlier music, so we wanted to slowly introduce the new songs. The first bundle was leaning towards what I’d previously done, but with a crazy pop song in there. I wanted to get everyone accustomed to the range of sounds I was going for on the mixtape.
How did you approach creating the mixtape and honing the finer details, like the tracklist?
It was up until the very last minute that we finalised the tracklist. We had picked the bundles but for the final bundle, I had to reflect and think “Am I still feeling this song? Does this still fit?”. We were still making changes days before the submission. No matter how organised you are, feelings about songs will change and you will also write new songs throughout the process. Filling In The Gaps wasn’t written that long ago, but we knew we had to put it on the mixtape.
I love the visuals during this new era. What was the inspiration behind them?
I like to surprise people. My videos on the corner from my previous project surprised people because I look like I’m stood on the corner about to rap or something, and then I end up singing this super angelic melody. It’s a juxtaposition that people don’t expect. I wanted to do that again, but in a different way. [My producers and I] made 629 and it felt sarcastic and fun. We wanted to have so much fun with the project in the same way. The name came after that. I said “Honey, I’m Home” and it felt like the mixtape name, so we backtracked and named the bundles [Running Late… and Be Right There…] as a run up to revealing that title.
You dress in a more feminine way than we are used to seeing you on social media. Why did you choose a different style for these photo shoots?
As much as I do wear track suits, the corner side videos are also me as a character. I had to become a stereotype of being cool, like “I’m stood on the corner with my track suit on”. I would scrape my hair back because the wind was blowing everywhere and it was raining. I filmed so many videos all in one go. That was a character and one side of who I am, so I wanted show the world that I can also be this feminine. I dress for feeling so I can never plan my outfits in advance. Some days I wake up and think “I feel like wearing heels today” and on other days, it’s more like “get me in a tracksuit”. There’s not really an in-between. I wanted to show that I love to do both and I’m comfortable doing both. It was fun to play dress up because I don’t often do that.
You put connection at the forefront of your music and shows. Which communities have been (or are) the most meaningful to you?
Obviously, the LGBTQ+ community is like that. That’s just my people. I’m trying to write songs for us because we don’t have many. We have more now, but not in the grand scheme of music. There’s a great community being built of queer artists, but you can never have too much representation. I’m trying to be the queer artist that I needed when I was younger.
I also think of the people that were weird at school. That was me and the music is where we all come together. I feel like we were all the same girl at school, like all of us in that soundcheck [before the show]. They were me at school and I was them. It’s nice to bring us all together. We felt like outcasts and here we don’t.
What keeps your creative self inspired?
I’m into keeping my mental health good. I like to go to the gym to get a clear mind. I love to read and that helps my creativity loads because sometimes when I don’t know what to write about, I can write about a character or from a perspective outside of my own. I like to dance. I’m going to try and get back into that more. Keeping my friends around me and meeting new people keeps me creative too. After this tour, it’s definitely my season to lock in with writing. It’s also about shutting out the noise and tuning into my creative self. As soon as I start comparing myself to other people, that’s when the creative block happens.
Which artists are you listening to at the moment?
I listen to so many different artists, but I love Afrobeats. At the forefront of my mind, I love Ruger. Obviously Kehlani, kwn and Destin Conrad. Also Sasha Keable and Raye. Plus Sissy Ford and Izzy Withers, who are supporting me tonight. I listen to a lot of my friends too like COURTNEY.
What are you looking forward to in 2026?
Continuing to be creatively free and trusting my vision. I want to be 100% myself.
Listen to LYVIA’s debut mixtape “Honey, I’m Home!”, her great EP “Maid Marian Way” and other collaborative singles like “Venus” and “Tear Drops” wherever you get your music. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok. You can watch her music videos/visualisers on YouTube.
It's always so lovely to sit down and read through thoughtful, interesting interviews. Thank you!!! Also, LYVIA is fantastic
Proper, polished, piece. I loved the interview questions and replies. Loved the visuals and length. Loved that I enjoyed it.