Tiger La Flor aims for a Lucky Strike with her new single
By Alan Shipston for Country Music News International Magazine
“I wasn’t looking but you caught my eye,” starts Lucky Strike, an Arista Records lovestruck 70’s Laurel Canyon Country infused single. Tiger La Flor delivers a flirtatious track that blends modern country with a British pop feel as she tries to gain the attention of a new male prospect in her small-town bowling alley. La Flor’s cinematic, witty songwriting and her ability to fuse a range of influences continues the connective theme that’s earned her recognition as an artist who is, “elevating AAPI representation in country music,” as offered by Naluda Magazine.
The verses in Lucky Strike have a quasi Diana Ross vibe as Tiger coos, “He’s something different, must be in from out of town, yeah I can party all on my own, But when you walked up, Well I changed my tone, Cause you’re the kind who makes a gal want to settle down.” Explaining the song further La Flor shares, “This may be the only song I’ve come across that’s about seducing someone in a bowling alley. I always liked the cheeky retro branding of Lucky Strike cigarettes, but since there were already so many songs about the cigarettes, I decided to flip the concept and make it about the Lucky Strike bowling alley chain instead. The result is playful and flirty with a nostalgic twist. Sonically, it draws from Spandau Ballet’s True and the Eagles, One of These Nights, mixed with a modern influence like Sabrina Carpenter’s, Please Please Please.”
Emerging from Seattle’s grunge scene, Tiger La Flor ventured south to Los Angeles and forged a unique sound by merging easygoing country and retro synth-pop with indie grit. La Flor’s music garnered editorial support from Spotify and Amazon Music when she appeared on a Times Square Billboard representing Asian American Girl Club playlist led by her single, American Dream. In an interview with Abby Fowler of WPTS, Tiger described her music as, “nostalgic-core indie pop.” She went on to say, “I’m highly influenced by past eras of music and then I try to bring them into the modern day and make them feel reminiscent of those records that I grew up and loved, but also with my own spin on them.
Finding a perfect description for what Tiger La Flor does is not an easy task. Somewhat of a musical chameleon, she’s lives in her own orbit of self-invention, constantly changing to summon the spirit that moves her at a place in time of designed discovery.