Livingston’s Story Continues: Finding Clarity in the Chaos of Emotions in his Life
Music can be a new world to escape to, and for the singer/songwriter Livingston, crafting this music means exploring himself and his own emotions to create something that is both vulnerable and relatable. Originally from Texas, he spent a lot of his youth isolated, but now he’s gathering a fanbase of people finding comfort in his words and unique sound.
His music has evolved over time, with his breakout single, Shadow, topping the charts around the world. Livingston released his debut album, A Hometown Odyssey, in 2024 and just recently, on 7 March, he shared an extended edition of this album called, A Hometown Odyssey (The Story Continues). We had the chance to chat with Livingston about his new deluxe album and his process creating it.
With his quick rise to fame, it’s for Livingston to remember what inspired him to begin this journey. While he was on a family trip in Chicago, he began experimenting with creating musical beats on his computer. “There was something that happened in my heart just watching the city unfold out the window … and creating something on the computer that felt in sync with the emotion of what I was viewing at that very second in the outside world,” Livingston shared. This initial work became his song Young from his first EP.
For Livingston, music can be an escape from anxiety and can help with processing emotions. He described how artists can sometimes create something that holds a powerful meaning without consciously crafting it that way. Livingston also talked about how music feels like all versions of himself can come together, both past and present, to project into the future and create a more evolved version of himself and of his music.
“Songwriting is this magic prism that can take all of these emotions and thoughts … and then very clearly delta all of those things into one being … [and] one message.”
While Livingston uses his music to understand himself more, he also recognizes and welcomes others who relate to his songs. He finds that there is a balance between his desire to tell a fun story for fans to enjoy and his desire to process an emotion or moment in his life on paper. Throughout the process of creating this music, Livingston tries to make his songs as full worlds with experiences surrounding them.
Livingston specifically aims to create tracks that channel all the noise of life into something simple and beautiful. “I want to help people find [clarity] in the chaos … [and] help them simplify what’s going on inside of their head and in their heart,” he says. He emphasized how he doesn’t force his music to sound a certain way just to appeal to fans, but instead, he feels like his fans are meant to understand his work. Livingston constructs songs that resonate with him, and if it resonates with others, then that means that they’re truly meant to be fans.
“I just want people to have a bit of awe and wonder and hold onto that, even where there’s a lot of reasons not to.”
Many components of Livingston’s creative process stick with him throughout all his work, such as on A Hometown Odyssey (The Story Continues). Having grown up isolated, he originally only felt comfortable writing based on his own experiences and emotions. However, he’s beginning to expand to write more about other experiences outside of his own head. He’s also found that collaborating with other people and finding a mentor has helped him continue to grow in his production and arrangement skills.
When deciding to create an extended edition of A Hometown Odyssey, Livingston planned it as a challenge to himself. He explained that he wanted to leave this album’s world, but he also wanted to take it to another level of production and use the deluxe version as one final display of his emotions. “It’s the best possible version of [expressing his lonely childhood] that I could do,” he told us, emphasizing the importance of making his thoughts bolder and clearer before starting something new.
Deciding how to organize the album and which songs to include on it was difficult. Still, Livingston knew what emotions and thoughts he wanted to bring into the spotlight and planned it around that. He decided to organise the new songs as a new main disc, instead of hiding it under songs that he made at 14 years old, to showcase them more.
“There’s a lot packed into it that … the original album had but just in brighter and more colourful and more electric versions of it.”
When choosing the songs or concepts for A Hometown Odyssey (The Story Continues), Livingston felt like a song needed to make his heart jump outside of his chest 100% of the time, not 70% or less. The songs included did everything for his heart for him to decide to add them. For example, Nightlight is a song that makes Livingston feel transported back in time to when life was simpler and he was first discovering music, making him feel a sense of wonder again.
One key component of this new deluxe album was the evolution of Livingston’s production. He found that he consciously became a stronger producer for the new tracks versus just being in his bedroom making the whole song at once without as much time to process it. He worked hard to make each additional song perfect, making choices in his production to heighten its emotions. “The song got to inform what the production did in a really unique way,” Livingston explained, comparing his process of working on a song and its production to a surge analysis system.
He’s always trying to change and evolve, and he recognizes how each deluxe song holds the power to be wildly different from the album. Still, he finds a way to balance bold production with emotions already discussed. Livingston draws inspiration from film music throughout A Hometown Odyssey and ties in a cinematic production with songs such as Glow and The Game. That way, he can balance his love for new ideas and creativity with his inspirations that persist throughout the entire work.
Livingston has been bringing his music to life while on tour, heading out again in May for The Story Continues Tour. Chatting with us about touring, he believes that everyone deserves to see the exact same show, so he doesn’t just give special attention to larger shows or those in major cities. “There’s something about the small rooms that have even more energy sometimes,” Livingston told us. He prioritises keeping his mind, body, and spirit in sync during tour so that the fans spending time and money to see his show get the same show as anyone else.
Previously, he has opened for other artists such as Fitz and the Tantrums and Witt Lowry, and has also played his own headlining shows. He described how the arc to the tours has been fairly constant, with energy ebbing and flowing as the tour continues. However, it’s gotten easier for him to stay healthy as a headliner, as he’s ensured that he’s ready for each show on the tours. With his upcoming tour, Livingston is excited for the additional guitars, larger stages, and his increased ability to run around and put on a show for his fans.
For Livingston, completing a song or an album doesn’t mean that his goals are accomplished. As he’s grown, he’s recognized that his success came from slowly refining what he wanted his music to say. On tour, he began to discover just how much his music meant to people and why they came to his shows. “Regardless of age or where they’re from or what they believe or what the struggles in their life are, people have really complex inner stories that they are looking for … hope and guidance to get through,” Livingston explained, examining how his music has evolved and has continued to connect with more people.
He has even grown in his experiences to get to tour. When Livingston was younger, he made many guesses about how the world worked and found that it was both scary and comforting to not know where he was going. Still, he was driven by his passion to make music and find a way to perform on tour. Even with mistakes happening during his initial concerts (such as his microphone being turned off at the start of a show), Livingston was driven to return to the studio and learn from his experiences.
“It’s not about how can I make the world make sense to me and try to make it small … but more about embracing that there’s so much that I don’t know.”
When creating his next album, Livingston plans to think a lot about what new components and emotions he wants to incorporate. He had his whole life to make a first album and get to go on tour (his wish being granted, having played 100 shows so far). Now, he is working hard to find the time to create music and the next world for his fans to experience with him.
If there’s one thing that Livingston wants new listeners to take away from hearing his music, it’s inspiration. Whether fans are looking for an escape from the bustle of life or someone to look to as a beacon of creativity, Livingston stands out as a rising artist who can provide that support and community. You can experience the worlds of Livingston’s music during his tour starting in May 2025, or by listening to A Hometown Odyssey (The Story Continues) on all music streaming platforms.
