Jen Awad. Photographed by Gavin Doyle
A mysterious woman who resembles and--come to find out--sounds like a dolled up Amy Winehouse and Adele hybrid sat at an LA bar one night, taking shot after shot without giving so much as one f\*\*k about how she’d feel in the morning. Until morning came. And with the hangover she had came all of the feels at once.
As most songwriters do when they succumb to emotions, LA-based soul artist, Jen Awad, sits her hangover down at the piano, thinks about her life choices (from the night before), and realizes with each hackneyed note that a typically omnipresent emotion no longer respires, does not breathe life into this jaded-for-a-reason piece of music. Love left the building.
“I was so conflicted as to why I had stayed out so late," Awad tells Flaunt of her new single, "only to realize subconsciously I was seeking some kind of love whether it be a boozy one night stand or a 'love at first sight' deal, while hacking away at the keys for a bit I accidentally blurted out, 'Love is Dead.' And that was that. I immediately put the song down for a while, refusing to come to terms with that notion til experiencing severe heartbreak this past year. I took it upon myself to finally finish the damn song for the sake of closure, but also with the hope that other people could take refuge in this song from their own heartbreak.”
Many acts are nostalgic, lamenting the Motown sound, imitating it and failing to c deliver as convincingly as Awad. But Awad's lyrics and delivery on “Love is Dead” find her traveling back in time to the era and Berry Gordy's famed beginnings.
"I don't think I'm alone when I say 'I was born too late.' she says. "Society has sucked, swiped, and fucked the beauty out of romance. My song acknowledges the nostalgia of the "house with the white picket fence" kind of love versus the way it is now, fuck-boys and all. More than anything, I hope listening to this song makes you lovesick enough to bring it back into to your life."
In addition to being a warrior against fuck-boys and using sharp-noted weapons like the _sexaphone_ heard midway through "Love is Dead" to strike, the half-Egyptian, half-Peruvian Los Angeles native developed her own [ultra-stylized line of threads](http://www.jenawadla.com/) as colorful and complex as her ethnic origins.
Having attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in DTLA, Awad works to bring Hollywood retro-glam back to both music and fashion with a focus of _la vie de nuit_ or just living your best life day in and out. For listeners and thread heads who feel like today is not their time to shine, Awad is here to extend an open invite to a hair dyed-blues, punk, soul, and R&B land of nostalgic refuge.
The accompanying music video for “Love Is Dead” will debut later this December. While biding time, check out Awad's [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/JENAWAD1) and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/jen-awad) pages for more sultry, soulful eargasms. Her first full-length album, _Champagne Confessional_, is available on [Spotify.](https://open.spotify.com/album/6GZqCPesdNYsZbakiGaTnD)
* * *
Written by Kara Powell
.jpg)
