Q&A with LAUREL

British-born singer at the intersection of indie rock, disco, and synth-pop, LAUREL hadn't toured in the U.S. for ten years before her Brooklyn performance at Williamsburg's Baby's All Right on June 4th.

During her last visit to Brooklyn, LAUREL was lost–physically. Running in circles at the whim of her mobile GPS, frustration (or fate) led LAUREL to the recording studio she had rented in the city. Feeding off adrenaline and a summer spent "running around, writing a lot, and doing sessions," she recorded two major successes that day, marking a distinct change in her sound. "Scream Drive Faster" (2020) and "Best I Ever Had" (2020), both more buoyant and produced than her previous work, signaled a flipping of the page in LAUREL's career.

Within the last decade, LAUREL has grown from a singer-songwriter to an influential voice in fashion and a seasoned performer. Though not unlike the person she was ten years ago, as evidenced by her interviews and Discord sessions, LAUREL remains magical, upbeat, and sugary–the same adjectives she uses to describe her more recent sound on her newest album, 'PALPITATIONS'.

IndieWavves: It's been about ten years since you've played a show in the U.S. Are there any key learnings you've had over the past ten years [that you look to incorporate into your performance style]?

LAUREL: Honestly, I haven't done much touring for the past five years because of COVID. When I released Scream Drive Faster and Best I Ever Had, it was the middle of the pandemic, so I didn't tour.

As soon as we started touring again, I had to write a new record because ["Scream Drive Faster" and "Best I Ever Had"] had been out for a few years. It was a really strange moment when my last record didn't really get toured, and I'm only now coming to a place where I'm like, 'Okay, let's tour, let's show this music'. It almost feels like a brand-new start.

We did a show in England at the start of the year, but it has been a while since I've done that much touring. I was touring with Flume on stage, singing the song we wrote together, and I definitely learned a lot from that experience, which I will take with me on stage.

IW: What was it like performing "I Can't Tell", your song with Flume, at Coachella–one of the biggest stages in the world?

L: I don't really remember…it was wild. I was nervous and had a lot of adrenaline. It was wild. But I do remember looking out and being like, 'That's a lot of people.' With a large stage like Coachella, you can't really see [the crowd] at some point, especially at nighttime when it's dark.

Small shows are actually more nerve-wracking for me–you can see into the eyes of every person in front of you, and [the crowd is] hanging onto your every move–whereas during a big show like that… there's a bit less pressure since the experience is already so epic.

IW: Often, on your Instagram, you refer to your songs as "music for sunsets." How would you describe that concept?

L: There's nothing like watching the sunset. Everywhere I go, I want to watch the sunset. It's such a special moment for me–it's very powerful and emotional. I often meditate during the sunset, and it's so magical. I like the idea of my music being the music you listen to as the sun goes down.

LAUERL at Baby’s All Right by Kayleigh Schweiker

IW: You wrote that you're most excited for listeners to hear the last song on 'PALPITATIONS', "Deathwish". Why are you so excited for us to listen to that song in particular?

L: Deathwish is really poignant. It's extremely emotional–it's about the death of my ex-boyfriend, so it's pretty intense. There's something really magical about it. It's not a classic pop song–it's a self-indulgent, highly emotional song. I am absolutely my most emotional in that song.

IW: I saw you coined "Only One", your "ultimate sad girl song", and I know you've had it in the safe for almost six years. How did you choose to include it in 'PALPITATIONS'?

L: I think I didn't release ["Only One"] sooner because I had just started a new musical style at the time–Scream Drive Faster was very different from 'DOGVIOLET'. In the week I wrote "Scream Drive Faster", I thought it was too confusing to release ["Only One"] right now. I need to show them that this is what LAUREL is: she's doing more upbeat and production-heavy stuff. "Only One" is just a huge ballad. It's more along the lines of what I used to do. I just wanted to make sure that when I released it, people already understood my project and weren't just expecting ballads from me.

When I decided to do a full-length record, I was like–100%, this is the moment. It just felt right. And I think in an album, you get more songs to show who you are and more space for experimentation.

IW: "Only One" definitely resonates with the mood of your cover, whereas your more upbeat songs like "45 Degrees" paired with this album cover feel like a contrast.

L: I was just mood-boarding when I saw some pictures of a girl holding a goat. I loved the picture so much that I was like, "Why can't I do this? Why wouldn't I hold a baby lamb?"

Holding the lamb over my heart represents a pure, innocent heart in this crazy world. We're standing in a quarry, which is a manmade, natural environment. And it represents this little being that is just trying to live–so pure and white and shiny and a baby–in this very manmade, tough world, just trying to stay okay.

IW: That explanation and the image seem to capture your entire album–from songs like "Only One" to "45 Degrees".

L: Oh, I love that.

IW: Speaking of–you wrote "45 Degrees" the day after you got engaged in Provence. How did your experience during that time influence you to write that song?

L: Well, it was very hot in France at the time. 45 degrees is, like, the hottest it can get in Europe.

We got engaged, and it was honestly a huge surprise. I had been so busy, so swept away with a hundred other things that I hadn't had any time to write there and wanted to. And then, when we got engaged, I had a few days afterward to soak it in, so I went and wrote this song. I remember being like–this was worth it. I got one song, and I think it's the best thing I've ever written. [The lyrics] flew out–that's when I think it's the best song, and it just all flies out really easily. I was like, wow, this is sugary pop. As sweet as a popsicle, these lyrics. But ["45 Degrees"] is actually talking about my life at that time. It's like my diary entry, that song.

IW: How has visiting France every year shaped your songwriting process?

L: I often write when I go there. I just love it. It's so beautiful to be in the mountains, and my partner is French, so we always go, though maybe not this year.

Provence is summery and beautiful. You drink wine every day, drive around the countryside, and jump in lakes. It's just a really beautiful way to live. And that romantic sense of living has bled into my lyrics and the life I want to live.

IW: How do you feel like your LA space has transformed your music?

L: LA has had the biggest effect on my life. From the road trips I've taken to the places I've seen–Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Big Sur–these natural environments greatly impact me visually and my soul. But I think the lifestyle in LA–like driving and going to parties in people's houses, and the fashion, plus being around so many musicians–has had a huge effect on me.

The growth that I've had as a person in the two years since I moved there has been so significant. I think it bleeds into my music–my music is very sunny and very Californian, and I find myself writing many songs about driving and the imagery of LA.

IW: Have you had an affinity towards nature since before you started your career?

L: Yeah. I love nature. I grew up by the sea, which has had a big effect on me. When I moved to London, I found it quite difficult. It's very concrete, and I wanted to ride horses and be out in the ocean! That's why being able to drive out into LA is really important for me, to get space. I have a lot of space where I live…but coming from London, I definitely miss city life.

IW: How often do you visit London now?

L: Probably once or twice a year, maybe more sometimes. My family is there, and I miss them so much all the time, so it's an inevitable trip. Going there is a wonderful reset. But going to London always reminds me that I'm really happy on my new path of exploring another country. When I feel uncomfortable in America sometimes because I'm foreign, it's nice to go back and realize–" no, no, I really want to be uncomfortable, and I want to stretch myself".

IW: So, fashion. You just went to London Fashion Week, and you've expressed yourself in your videos through fashion for a long time. Which brands or styles inspire you now, and how do you choose what to wear in your videos?

L: I love fashion, it's true. I guess music and fashion are both just ways to express things outwardly. I just really love playing with fashion–for me, it's very fun. It's not serious.

My fashion icons are kids. They've got stripey tights on, or fairy wings and nothing matches. And that's what I like. I think there are so many variations of what I wear because I just like to express how I'm feeling that day. Sometimes, I want to wear all black and just be a goth, and other days, I want to wear every single different pattern and color that I can.

I love that [fashion] is part of my visuals. I do all my styling and am very interested in young designers. Fashion Week is really fun, and I definitely want to do more of it. We're developing a merch line right now, which is more fun, and it all kinds of works within this fashion world, which I'm really excited about. So I really want to work more on that. I would love to have a clothing line–maybe that's the next thing, get the album out, then clothing line!

IW: Speaking of the next thing, earlier this year, you teased that you'd written album three in your panic to put out album two. Is there anything you can tease that listeners might be able to expect on your next album?

L: What I want to do with album three is really build on music for sunsets. ['PALPITATIONS'] is predominantly conceptual–it's about feelings and very self-indulgent regarding my emotions. I feel like the next album is almost like a road trip–like a journey, it's quite euphoric and sunny and yellow. I don't want to make any more huge pivots. But I like the idea that the next album is a little world. Building on the concept of "music for sunsets" to transform that album into a little world is really exciting to me.

Written by Kayleigh Schweiker

IndiewavvesAugust 31, 2024