Aurally Visual: Effie Liu – “Devil On My Shoulder”

Effie Liu

“Devil On My Shoulder”

Magenta Agenda

If it’s going to sound like this, we all need to have a Magenta Agenda.  The new album from Effie Liu is bright, chipper, a hell of a lot of fun.  Her songs’ sunny vibes are the product of hard won defiance. After growing up with no Asian-American icons in music to look up to, Liu is setting out to be the artist she wishes she’d had as inspiration in her youth.  “The theme of my new work is recognizing conflict and being a survivor of that,” she describes. “Sometimes that’s as simple as ‘You’re telling me to be something I’m not, so fuck you.'”  Growing up in San Francisco, Liu decamped first to LA and then to New York to study fashion.  Deciding to follow her music dream, Liu took her influences from No Doubt and Blondie, combining her love of fashion with her love of music.  She has achieved a sound that is actually visual and aural.  Now, Asian-Americans have a model to look up to.