“We drive and we dance and we feel that love,” reads the caption for a TikTok video uploaded by the Fordham University-founded music duo, The Love Language Collective.
The video featured the two students and musicians, Matt Ellersick, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill ’27, and Kamalani Damaso, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’27, dancing in front of a Ram Van with on-screen text that read “POV: you both drive vans so you can afford a new microphone so your songs don’t sound like ditty.” The song playing in the background is one of their two newly released singles titled “Feel Your Love,” a nostalgic indie-pop track reminiscent of some of their musical influences, such as Clairo and Rex Orange County.
Their playful online presence is balanced by their ambition to create music that resonates with their fanbase, which they envision to be much like themselves.
The duo’s chemistry is undeniable.
“We want to make music that we would put on our playlist,” Damaso said.
Ellersick and Damaso met through mutual friends during the second semester of their first year on a night out, where they had an instant connection. Ellersick said they had “the time of (their) lives,” making each other laugh all night, eventually heading back to Damaso’s dorm at 3 a.m. to show each other their demos. They agreed that night to set up a time to make music together, and from there, spent the rest of the semester writing music. That summer, Damaso visited Ellersick in California, where they finalized “Feel Your Love” and began working on other tracks.
“If I heard ‘Feel Your Love’ when I was 13 years old, I would have thought this was a banger,” Ellersick said.
“I’ve been so obsessed with Kamalani’s voice ever since I met her. I’m so obsessed with the way that she sounds that I’m like, ‘why would I sing if she can?’” Matt Ellersick, GSBRH’27
The duo’s chemistry is undeniable. Damaso said, “When Matt has a vision, I fully understand it.” While she had been passionate about music her whole life, she was inactive during the beginning of her first year — until she met Ellersick.
“I was like ‘I feel so creative and I want to sing again,’” Damaso said.
Damaso sings the main vocals on both released singles. Ellersick sat back on the tracks.
“I’ve been so obsessed with Kamalani’s voice ever since I met her. I’m so obsessed with the way that she sounds that I’m like, ‘why would I sing if she can?’” Ellersick said.
The song’s opening features Damaso humming against a soft, upbeat drum track. The sound quality of her voice is analog and nostalgic as if you were listening to her on the other end of the phone.
Damaso laughed and added, “He spends hours and hours mixing and mastering. I don’t know how he’s not tired of listening to my voice.”
When Ellersick started brainstorming “Feel Your Love,” he felt compelled to make a pop song inspired by soft rock icons Kate Bollinger, Carol King and one of his favorite bands, Drugdealer.
“I just wanted to make something catchy,” he said. After writing the first verse and chorus, he called Damaso and told her, “This is it, this is a hit.”
The song’s opening features Damaso humming against a soft, upbeat drum track. The sound quality of her voice is analog and nostalgic as if you were listening to her on the other end of the phone.
Ellersick’s vocals play quietly in the beginning, softly harmonizing with Damaso’s, but can also be heard throughout. Damaso’s voice is sweet and playful, as if she was smiling the whole time she recorded it.
The structure is cohesive, with alternating verses and choruses. In the second verse, Damaso sings, “Can’t hold in my love any longer/Cant keep waiting on you,” which cleverly hints to their second single, “Waiting on You.” It’s a classic pick for a shower listen.
For “Waiting on You,” Damaso and Ellersick agreed they were both very picky.
“I knew how I wanted it to sound, it just took a long time getting there,” Ellersick said. He later added that his specific vision made it more difficult to produce, “but that’s why we like it more.”
Damaso said she was focused on making the bridge sound lyrical: “I want you to want me the way that I do; wish this wasn’t true; can’t take another day of this pain.” She said she wanted to portray a deep sense of yearning.
“The whole song is literally just pining for someone,” Ellersick said.
Ellersick’s vocals play quietly in the beginning, softly harmonizing with Damaso’s, but can also be heard throughout. Damaso’s voice is sweet and playful, as if she was smiling the whole time she recorded it. The song is flirty (“I’m just waiting on you/To take off this dress”) and encapsulates the excitement and anxieties of being in love.
The wall above Damaso’s bed boasts posters from the “Charm Tour” they attended together at Webster Hall in October, another of the band Thee Sacred Souls, a Frank Ocean poster and a poster of the album cover for their first single, “Feel Your Love.”
2024 was a big year in music, particularly in the alternative-pop genre. The duo agreed that Clairo’s “Charm” as well as “Apricot Princess” and “Who Cares” by Rex Orange County, had a major influence on how their final songs came out.
“This year we just reconnected with what made us fall in love with music,” Ellersick said.
Damaso and Ellersick plan to release new singles and an EP at the start of next year. Looking forward, they hope to continue making music, compile a band and perform live. They have their fingers on the pulse, they have their target audience and they are certainly one to look out for.