LINYING SHARES LUSH, SOARING NEW SINGLE “SWIM, SWIM”
March 31, 2025 BY Bailey Vigliaturo
Los Angeles-via-Singapore artist Linying today shared “Swim, Swim,” the title track of her new album due out on April 4th via Nettwerk. Brooding but tender, the song documents a maddening romantic drama. Linying adorns the turmoil with punchy beats and otherworldly textures, the latter of which was built from a manipulation of her performance on a rickety old piano. “I like fun. I hate blurred lines. I’m saying, ‘Get on your knees and get your act together, or you can forget about it,’” Linying says of the track. “Swim, Swim” will be available to stream at all DSPs tomorrow HERE. Swim, Swim is available for pre-save HERE.
Previous LP singles “Donovan,” “Blondie” and “Dial Tone” have earned praise and support from PAPER Magazine (premiere/feature), Talkhouse (feature), &ASIAN (feature), The Alternative, Buzzbands.la, Joysauce, Beats Per Minute, and more.
Swim, Swim emerged from a disorienting, but dreamlike period Linying spent partly living on the remote Filipino island of Siargao, during which the singer/songwriter embarked on what she refers to as a “parallel discovery of self and femininity.” Linying traveled there five times over the course of a chaotic year marked by personal heartbreak and the immense upheaval of moving to L.A. from her homeland. “By learning to lean into the unpredictable but also wildly beautiful landscape that surrounded me, I developed an intimacy with the part of myself that’s ruled by feeling and desire, after a lifetime of being partial to my rational mind,” she says.
Swim, Swim is Linying’s first full-length release since There Could Be Wreckage Here (a 2022 LP made with former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla), and arrives nearly a decade after the breakout success of her 2016 single “Sticky Leaves”—a lovely introduction to her poetic lyrics and idiosyncratic sense of melody, an element largely informed by her deep familiarity with classical Chinese music and its use of the pentatonic scale. In sculpting Swim Swim’s gorgeously detailed form of dream-pop, Linying and her trio of longtime creative partners Jon Graber, Brandon Benson, and former Toro y Moi touring guitarist Jordan Blackmon joined forces with an eclectic lineup of collaborators that includes avant-jazz composer/multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn (Jessica Pratt, Kimbra) and electronic/hip-hop producer AOBeats. With all songs co-produced by Linying and mixed by Graber, Swim, Swim ultimately embodies a spellbinding fluidity that closely echoes her newfound sense of surrender.
Swim, Swim LP Tracklist:
1. Fridge
2. Swim, Swim
3. Blondie
4. Dial Tone
5. Donovan
6. Pink Gel
7. The Key
8. Birthdays on Video
9. Centre of Attention
10. Good Is Better Than Better
