Falling in love is great – up until that moment when you finally hit the floor, and you realize that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s in one of these darker moments that we find YVR’s brand new song, “Love is Hard.” The track, premiering here on HollywoodLife, is an electro-pop bop awash in the neon-light of a revelation: that love isn’t always fun. “You’re pulling on my heartstrings / pushing every button,” sings Courtney Stahl over the beat, composed by the other half of YVR (and her better half) Stephen Stahl. “Even when nothing wrong / we turn it into something / I wanna talk, but I really don’t know how / I love you, but I don’t like you right now.”
After all, if love was easy, there wouldn’t be so many songs about heartbreak. It’s something YVR even addresses on the track: “although it hurts, sometimes I make it worse / cause it makes for better songs.” So, is this how this new song was born? “‘Love Is Hard” was one of those songs that ‘wrote itself,’” the band tells HollywoodLife. “It’s very rare that you begin writing a song, and everything clicks right away – the lyrics, the melody, and the music. The whole song was written within one hour, and we instantly connected with it.”
“Love Is Hard” marks a turning point for YVR in terms of songwriting. They’re about to release the follow-up to their 2019 debut EP, Night Days, and the band tells us that they’re “excited for people to see and hear a more vulnerable side of us.” This sophomore EP is “coming out this summer,” the band tells HollywoodLife, adding that it “goes through the motions of every feeling someone experiences throughout a relationship and the raw emotion that is experienced when a relationship ends. There are always internal and external struggles we may face, and this EP explores it all. We made sure not to leave any detail out. We spent so much time making sure every lyric, melody, instrument, and piece of music was completely authentic to us. Our goal as artists is to be 100% true to ourselves, regardless of what’s popular.”
Long before their 2019 debut, Courtney and Stephen were music industry veterans. Courtney, as Courtney Jenaé, wrote numerous songs for such K-pop acts like TWICE, EXO, Red Velvet, and Amber Lieu. Stephen – aka BUDDRO – worked with acts like Chris Daughtry, Bella Thorne, Taeyeon, E-Girls, and Blasterjaxx. With YVR, these two get a chance to step out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight.
Though the duo has admitted “Love is Hard,” they acknowledge that they’ve gotten a handle on this whole “life in quarantine” bit. “Right now, it is very easy to feel unmotivated and uninspired,” they tell HollywoodLife. “We have spent time during this quarantine to reflect on what’s most important to us – our family, friends, health, and creative outlets. We’ve been walking around the neighborhood a lot, writing songs, painting, watching comedies, and talking to our friends every day to stay sane. One day at a time!”