SW Sounds is a weekly feature that profiles a southwestern Ontario artist and their new music. Listen for it Mondays on Afternoon Drive between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on CBC Radio One.

To say 2019 has been a good year for Saveria D'Ippolito would be a bit of an understatement.

The London-based pop singer had the chance to represent her hometown of London in front of a gaggle of big-time Canadian artists and industry types when the Juno Awards came to town. She also appeared on the nationally televised music competition The Launch...and won.

Plus she's in a happy, healthy relationship.

But in her new single, Pity, she draws on memories of the days when wasn't so lucky in love. She discussed the inspiration behind her slinky new R&B jam as part of this week's SW Sounds.

How do you describe your music?

I'm always changing as an artist, but currently I'm like R&B/soul/pop. I grew up on Motown, so my mom was always playing Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Joss Stone and Stevie Wonder. So I feel like with this new single, I really came back to my roots. I feel as though this is definitely more 'me,' compared to a lot of other music that I've put out.

What was it like to be on reality TV?

It's funny because I kind of dove into that reality TV world when I was about 13 or 14 years old, so The Launch was kind of a refresher. It wasn't a surprise to me to dive back into that world even though it was an incredible experience. I don't want to downplay it - winning The Launch was absolutely incredible. That was one of the biggest stages I've played to this day - the most professional, biggest stage.

But what was that like creatively? I imagine it must have been so different from just making music on your own here in London.

One hundred per cent, yeah. I feel like I didn't have the creative stretch that I normally have - the whole concept of the show is 'we're giving you a song and we're expecting you to sing it and to launch it in this way.'

It's an amazing thing and I trust the industry's judgment on that. But at the end of the day, I wish I had that little extra sauce that I could put on there. But vocally, I think I brought out who I truly was through the song. But lyrically and production-wise, I'm very much involved in my music. I'm kind of a control freak, honestly. So in that sense, it was a learning experience for me to just like sit back and be like, 'okay I'll sing it like this.'

Watching the show made me think a lot about the 'major label' path versus the 'independent' way of doing things.

The Launch, it's very much 'major label.' And for me, I'm mostly independent. Even though I have some really amazing help, it's nothing compared to the big world of major labels. So moving forward, I want to stay a little bit more independent just because I feel like it's also amazing to learn all of these new things by yourself and to kind of go on your own little journey of self-discovery, and not be molded by someone and kind of expect the extra help and then sit back and just do the creative stuff.

Tell us about your new single.

It's called Pity. Initially, it was a beat that was sent to me by my producer, John Fellner. I absolutely love the song. And that chorus hook that goes "you only love me cuz' you pity me" came to me almost instantly.

About a week later, I had the first verse already completed and the hook already completed. With the lyrics, there was a feeling of sadness within the song, but also a lot of beauty and this sexy feeling I wanted to bring that out in a certain way. But going back to the sadness, I felt like the song needs to be relatable. So what better way to make it relatable than to write about your own personal experience? I'm in such a beautiful and healthy relationship right now, but I wrote about this relationship that I had where this person was just sticking around because they felt sorry for me because they pitied me. But I also wanted to end the song in a way that's a bit more positive.

This interview was edited and condensed. Have a listen to Saveria's new single as part of her SW Sounds profile:

Hot off the momentum of winning a music reality show, we'll heard a new single from London's own Saveria in this week's edition of SW Sounds. 9:09

If you know of an artist or band with new music that we should be featuring on SW Sounds, email afternoondrive@cbc.ca or reach out on Twitter, @cbcafternoondr.

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