Title: “Love Comes Not When We’re Looking”
Artist: Alicia Lena
From: TBA (2024)
Release Date: March 30, 2024
Format: CD Single, 12” Single, Digital Download, Weekly Airplay, Streaming
Recorded: Fénix Home Recording Studios, Phoenix, Arizona, USA / Record Plant, Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s): RnB, Soul, Pop
Length: 4:57
Label: FREEDOM
Written: October 2023
Writer(s): Alicia Lena, Abella Diaz
Producer(s): Alicia Lena, Nevaeh Martinez

“Love Comes Not When We’re Looking” is a single from American RnB singer-songwriter Alicia Lena, marking the fourth official single taken from her upcoming fourth studio album, following on from previous singles “Here We Stand”, “Home” and “New Light” all of which giving clear indicators of the mindset and general theme of the upcoming album, tackling social issues as well as individual stories of humanity. With the release of her latest single, we see Alicia delve further into her own psyche and her own story to deliver a love song of sorts, drenched in the primary idea of being single minded and not much of a believer in love in the traditional all conquering sense. Taken from her own personal experience of keeping her cards close to her chest and not allowing too many people to break down those walls and how when the right person came along, it all started to make sense to her. Directly relating to her thoughts and feelings in the early days of her relationship with record producer DeAndre Patton with whom she would go on to marry and start a family with, remaining together to this very day.

Written by Alicia Lena alongside Abella Diaz, the track was produced by the RnB singer-songwriter alongside long-time collaborator Nevaeh Martinez. The track was recorded at the home recording studio of Alicia’s at Fénix Home Recording Studios in Phoenix, Arizona and at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California. It will be distributed by FREEDOM records in a variety of different formats and will be available from March 30, 2024.

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Song Description

The track begins with a bluesy electric guitar intro, immediately bringing to mind sixties era soul music, with just the sound of the guitar and Alicia’s beautifully smooth RnB vocal delivery it gives a very reflective feel to the song as she sings the opening verse, “I used to think I could just live my own life/And you could live your very own/I used to think we could be like two ships passing in the night/Occasionally to find ourselves in the same port/And I thought that would be enough to help me navigate these waters/These waters that we float upon/But I felt like I could see the beacon in the distance/And somehow you were calling me home.” which gives a clear indication of the path that the song is set to travel, showcasing lyrics that not only go into the psyche of the narrator previous mindset but also showing the eventual changing of perspective that will occur throughout the song.

Its pre-chorus and chorus serve to ram home the idea of being set in ones ways, the guitar is joined by the sound of a church organ as Alicia sings the pre-chorus alone “I know I wasn't the easiest to crack/Breaking through the solid walls that I built around me/But your persistence and your honesty/Makes me glad that you're the one that found me.” as the music behind her builds to a crescendo with the bluesy guitar tones and the powerful organ sound before Alicia raises her vocal delivery to an epic rise as she’s joined by the Angel City Chorale which is a choir based in California that have previously appeared on her track “Here We Stand”. Accompanied by hand-claps to truly ram-home the church choir feeling as they sing in unison with Alicia “I ain't ever felt a love like this/Been so used to feeling a love like war/I ain't ever felt a love like this/Never felt like this before.”

Alicia then returns to her solo vocal delivery, matching the guitar and organ combination as the levels are brought down slightly following the songs chorus, she continues to drive home the self-preservation mind-set that she had before real love came into her life, “I've always been independent for as long as I could remember/Always one to follow the path that I set out on my own/I've never been one to be assigned to another/Like the proverbial rolling stone/Then you came into my life, knowing how the odds were stacked/And slowly over time/Your consciousness and humility/Brought me back.” which is followed by the pre-chorus and chorus once more.
The final verse of the song comes into play with one last opportunity for Alicia to deliver everything she wants to say within the song, one final opportunity to tie the song into a neat arc, the music remains primarily the same harking back to a very sixties bluesy feel with slight Motown elements scattered throughout, “I had a hard time seeing that I had lost my way/Longing for something that I didn't even know within myself/I had been subconsciously searching for it/In the worst of places/You took my broken songs as a cry for help/And pieced them back together/So that they finally felt whole once again/The best of love comes not when we're looking/It arrives in the silence/And quietly grows.” which is then followed by the chorus which closes out the song on a triumphant note.

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“Love Comes Not When We’re Looking”
(w. Alicia Lena, Abella Diaz)
(p. Alicia Lena, Nevaeh Martinez)

"I used to think I could just live my own life
And you could live your very own
I used to think we could be like two ships passing in the night
Occasionally to find ourselves in the same port
And I thought that would be enough to help me navigate these waters
These waters that we float upon
But I felt like I could see the beacon in the distance
And somehow you were calling me home

I know I wasn't the easiest to crack
Breaking through the solid walls that I built around me
But your persistence and your honesty
Makes me glad that you're the one that found me

I ain't ever felt a love like this
Been so used to feeling a love like war
I ain't ever felt a love like this
Never felt like this before

I've always been independent for as long as I could remember
Always one to follow the path that I set out on my own
I've never been one to be assigned to another
Like the proverbial rolling stone
Then you came into my life, knowing how the odds were stacked
And slowly over time
Your consciousness and humility
Brought me back

I know I wasn't the easiest to crack
Breaking through the solid walls that I built around me
But your persistence and your honesty
Makes me glad that you're the one that found me

I ain't ever felt a love like this
Been so used to feeling a love like war
I ain't ever felt a love like this
Never felt like this before

I had a hard time seeing that I had lost my way
Longing for something that I didn't even know within myself
I had been subconsciously searching for it
In the worst of places
You took my broken songs as a cry for help
And pieced them back together
So that they finally felt whole once again
The best of love comes not when we're looking
It arrives in the silence
And quietly grows

I ain't ever felt a love like this
Been so used to feeling a love like war
I ain't ever felt a love like this
Never felt like this before"

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Credits & Personnel;

CREDITS

Produced by Alicia Lena, Nevaeh Martinez
Engineered by Aniyah Jordan
Mixed by DeAndre Patton, Aniyah Jordan
Recorded at Fénix Home Recording Studios, Phoenix, Arizona / Record Plant Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California

PERSONNEL

Alicia Lena – vocals, piano organ, lyrics, composition, production
Neveah Martinez – production, management
Aniyah Jordan – lead guitar, backing vocals, engineering, mixing
DeAndre Patton – mixing
Abella Diaz – lyrics, composition
Angel City Chorale - vocals