James Reid's 'Lie to Me' Is So Good. It Needs to Be Longer Than 3 Minutes
“Cry for me. Even if the tears that fall are make-believe, I want you to lie to me.”
These lyrics from James Reid's single "Lie to Me" is the latest anthem of denial and heartbreak. It is so good, it needs to be longer than three minutes.
Produced by De’La express an unconventional way of accepting that the love two people have for one another has come to an end. From one perspective, there is a fear of growing apart from their partner but they try to make it as painless as possible.
On the other hand, the lyrics speak about being used as a source of consolation in the relationship, but they would rather have the comfort of lies than be lonely. lovescene: was released on all major streaming platforms last October and collectively has over 2 million streams to date.
Lie to Me
Fusing together elements of neo-soul and funk into pop and R&B tracks, the essence of James’ music is inspired by all things love and the current realities that surround him. “Philosophical and ever-curious, James is an environmentally conscious individual who is constantly striving to both seek and share knowledge of how to better take care of the world we live in,” says Careless.
James Reid and Destiny Rogers in 'Lie to Me'
For his latest single, “Lie to Me,” Reid tapped the 21-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Destiny Rogers, who was born and bred in Lodi, a small Northern California town. After a few years of busking in Los Angeles on the weekends and facing trials and tribulations of the music industry, she was finally connected to members of Grammy-Award-winning songwriter/producer team The Stereotypes (Bruno Mars, Cardi B) and eventually began working with them. She signed to their label, Beach Wave Sound in 2018 and released her debut EP Tomboy via Beach Wave Sound/RCA Records the following year.
“Lie to Me” is the seventh track on lovescene: and features Destiny Rogers, an LA based singer-songwriter. James and Destiny worked on the song together while in LA earlier this year and came to the Philippines to shoot the music video.
As Careless Music’s founder and president, James has always been driven to elevate the local music scene by providing exposure on a global scale. After over a decade in showbusiness, James has moved his focus on both his own music career and growing Careless.
With the release of lovescene: 5 years after his album ‘Palm Dreams’, James has begun to show a more vulnerable side to himself through his music and the visuals that accompany them. James met Destiny during a visit to The Stereotypes’ studio in LA last January 2020. By that time, she had already released her EP, Tomboy, and was working on more music and looking for artists to collaborate with.
When James went back to LA in 2022 to work on lovescene:, he asked Destiny if she was willing to collaborate with him on a song. Destiny agreed and they finished working on ‘lie to me’ together, and according to James “[Destiny’s] vocals really brought the song to a whole other level.”
Last September, Rogers came to Manila to shoot the ‘lie to me’ music video and experience the music and nightlife scene along with the Careless team. She was also able to perform some songs at HQ, Poblacion. James says “Destiny is pretty much family at this point.”
The life and death cycle of love has been the main message of lovescene:, and lie to me shows the slow-burning and bittersweet death of a romance and even hints at an attempt to move on despite it all.
The collaboration between Destiny and James serves as a stepping stone for Careless to even more collaborations with international artists. Working with like-minded individuals such as Destiny opened up more opportunities for Careless to collaborate with other artists, local or international.
For now, expect to see more of Destiny in upcoming Careless projects.
The music videos for ‘u & i’ and ‘lie to me’ are now on the Careless Music YouTube channel as well as lyric visualizers for all 10 tracks.
