Lucas Laufen – Weathering
“Leave alone the cooling mug of tea in your hands, remove the morning breakfast from the table and go for a walk. And wherever you are, you can always find the corner of your dreams, where you will wander in a cool shadow, hiding from the scorching rays of the sun. (Automatically Translated with Google Translate)”
“Оставьте в покое остывающую кружку чая в ваших руках, уберите со стола утренний завтрак и отправляйтесь на прогулку. И где бы вы не были, вы всегда можете найти уголок вашей мечты, где вы будете блуждать в прохладной тени, прячась от палящих лучей солнца.”
-Nagamag.com
"With the way the weather is currently set up, we’re feeling to wrap ourselves in a cosy blanket and watch the rainfall from the comfort of our homes. And providing the perfect soundtrack to these warming moments is Lucas Laufen with “Weathering”. Gently easing us into a poignant soundscape laced with delicate strings, the artist smooth glides through the production before landing at the melancholic climax." - Wonderland Magazine
Lucas Laufen releases his latest album, Weathering, out May 13 via Embassy of Music
Berlin-based, Australian-born singer/songwriter Lucas Laufen releases his highly anticipated second album, Weathering, out May 13 via Embassy of Music. Weathering is a collection of impressions and memories he has collected in Europe throughout the last years. “Like everything I write, the album consists of personal stories, reflections and poems from the time after the release of my first album I Know Where Silence Lives. Weathering is about personal insights, processes changes and looks both to the future and to the past," says Laufen about his musical diary.
Weathering is made up of nine tracks, including the melancholic lockdown song "Cabin Fever", the heartwarming follow-up single "Time Took Tolls", the solo piano instrumentation "Heaven On The Hill", the heartbreaking "I Don't Believe in Loss" and his latest, “In Cologne”. Laufen’s typical folk sound runs stringently through the entire album with subtle instrumentalisation that offer space for the gentle but emotionally charged voice of the singer/songwriter. The individual tracks usually focus on thoughts, feelings or moments that the singer personally experienced and with his dreamy, almost trance-like way of performing, he creates a feeling of melancholy when listening, which moves you to tears, as well as having a meditative and calming effect.
The singer/songwriter collected his impressions and experiences processed on the album during the last few years while traveling Europe. He visited many different places and experienced several different cultures, which moved Laufen to question and restructure his personal beliefs, values and ideas.
“The unraveling of my familiar world and environment initially brought with it many unpleasant and disconcerting moments. As I began to delve deeper into sustainability and climate change, I found it difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel. But in the end I got hopeful again. Above all, music helps me to see the beauty of life and also the beauty of people. For me, Weathering is about this realisation and the change that comes with it. For example, recognising the positive in the apparently bad weather, stories on the way to the knowledge I gained and the people who helped me to recognise this," says Lucas Laufen about the feelings and moments processed on the album.
The recordings for Weathering took place together with the two-time Grammy Award winner Antonio Pulli in Laufen’s studio in Weißensee. At the beginning of the pandemic, the musician decided to build a studio in East Berlin with his friend and drummer Gidon Carmel. The whole construction took almost a year.
“I tried a lot of production ideas and Antonio worked more in the opposite direction. It was a good balance and he really helped me find the confidence to detox the songs even more than I would have imagined. I wrote string arrangements for a few of the songs, which got completely muted during the mixdown. We explored many possibilities, but eventually put the songs into an honest format that fits the emotions I put into them. I also played the piano for the first time on the record and started to delve into the neoclassical world," says the singer/songwriter about the recording process for his new album.
Weathering was released on May 13th via Embassy of Music.
Lucas Laufen Weathering Tour Dates
25.05.2022 – Alimentation Génèrale, Paris (FR)
26.05.2022 – Knust, Hamburg (DE)
27.05.2022 – Lotte Lindenberg, Frankfurt (DE)
30.05.2022 – Kulturhaus Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg (DE)
Reviewed by Nagamag on May 30, 2022