Lauv
Takes a Journey With Spirituality, Mental Health and Self Love
by Brenna Hallman
This year's hit summer vibe album is on its way after two years of anticipation. The electro-pop sensation Ari Leff, known professionally as Lauv, is set to release his newest album All 4 Nothing on August 5.
Lauv is best known for his chart-topping single "I Like Me Better," part of his groundbreaking project in 2018 I Met You When I Was 18. Since his instant fame, Lauv released another album in 2020, and now his third is on its way to the charts.
The singer/songwriter sat down with the media in an exclusive virtual press conference to discuss the process of writing and producing the album. These new songs are an authentic reflection of love, self-discovery and finding your inner child. Lauv inspired all of the press with his authentic and unfiltered responses and gave us a sneak peak of a few of his upcoming releases.
The creation of All 4 Nothing did not come easy for Lauv. Finding the most truthful words for this album required him to take a deeper look into himself as a person. Lauv informed the participants that he has embarked on a spiritual journey since his last album. Lauv spoke about healing through finding a connection to his inner child and taking up meditation. According to Lauv, this spiritual journey continues for him every day.
"I'm still working on waking up every day and being okay with myself, no matter what the outside world brings," Lauv explained.
This experience has helped him through his mental struggles and to create a new and more authentic sound in his music. Fans will be excited to hear this genuineness reflected in his lyrics.
Lauv dove deeper into the topic of inner-child work when asked about the character Joshua, mentioned in the bridge of Lauv's recent single "Kids Are Born Stars." The song reads, "What's up Joshua? Joshua, can you do these lyrics? Can you do them for me?" He told the press that this character in his song is actually his manager's son, a little boy who always encourages him that everything is going to be okay.
"During lock down, whenever I would be on Facetime stressed out, he would come in and be like 'Ari, don't worry it's all going to work out!'" Lauv's face lit up as he talked about this boy whose innocent words deeply impacted his life. "It was so thematic, because what I was looking for when making this album was getting in touch with my inner child and just being stress free and loving."
When asked about how his writing style has changed, Lauv reflected on the writing process of his upcoming release. He responded, "There will be good ideas and bad ideas too, and you just have to get through it all."
Lauv spoke of the importance of imperfections and mistakes and how it is all part of the creative process. He told the press that he now trusts himself as a creator to write in a more free-flowing and unpolished nature. Not only has he trusted himself, but he has worked with many friends to collaborate on the production of All 4 Nothing. This allowed for Lauv to put more focus on the lyrics of the music instead of stressing over the producing side of things.
When I had the privilege to speak with Ari, I asked him how he had found the balance between the light and the dark topics in this upcoming album. As he has mentioned in prior interviews and in our conference, this album is the unfiltered inner workings of someone struggling with mental health, while also being happy and in love.
"It honestly reflects my life so much," he responded. "Speaking for myself you feel ashamed of the parts of yourself that are darker."
Lauv expressed how exhausting it can be to hide your inner demons. Being more open and honest about our struggles is freeing. He spoke about his healing process over the last two years as "50% healing and 50% partying." The media got to experience these juxtaposing themes in previews of the songs "Summer Nights" and "Bad Trip."
Being authentic and vulnerable seemed to be a common theme featured in Lauv's responses during the Q & A portion of the conference. Not only is this reflected in his personality but also in the context of his new and improved music.
Lauv highlighted this when asked what he was most proud of when molding this album. "Not that I was filtering myself before, but I felt like I really, really didn't filter myself," Lauv explained. "It's all there for people to see. That was the hardest part because it's kind of scary, but also the most gratifying part."
It's inspiring to see the ways in which Lauv has embraced his mental health journey and has been totally transparent about it with his fans. He wants his fans to feel comfortable opening up about mental health, as he didn't grow up having these vulnerable conversations himself.
"Until I experienced it firsthand, it was hard for me to contextualize. But when I did experience it firsthand, I was naturally driven to talk about it, because it is everywhere, and we are all experiencing some version of it."
At one point in the call, Lauv spoke about his experience with depression, and the Zoom chat blew up with the attendees' antidepressant prescriptions. Lauv laughed and celebrated everyone for their mental health journeys. He made it so easy for everyone to feel comfortable being their most genuine selves and reassured us in our experiences with mental health. "Guys, there is so much love in here today," Lauv said to us.
One interviewer inquired about how Lauv has been trying to connect with his fans openly, especially about mental health. Ari responded, "I want to find a way to guide meditations or just come and hang out."
He listed some of his ideas of ways he could virtually communicate with his listeners. Although the pandemic has made him increasingly nervous about social media, Lauv told us that he would like to go live on Instagram or start a podcast.
"I think of myself as a very personable person, and I just love connecting with people."
Based on this Zoom call, Lauv without a doubt connects with people on an extremely deep level.
During our conference, Lauv graced us with a few of the unreleased songs in All 4 Nothing. Lauv and his conference attendees jammed out to four of his new songs and viewed the unfinished cut of one of the music videos. The energy in the zoom room was vibrant, as everyone blew up the chat with their obsession with the upbeat music and beautifully crafted music video. The storyline and cinematography of his video spoke to the demanding work put into shaping All 4 Nothing. These songs are definitely perfect for a windows-down drive with your friends this summer. I can't wait to hear the rest of this album.
When asked what he is excited about for his tour, Lauv said that he has more material to perform than ever, especially since he never got to perform his 2020 album How I'm Feeling live.
This tour is going to be one for the books, that's for sure. Not only is the music incredible and full of life but so is Ari Leff as a person. He has such a refreshing and positive energy that is contagious to anyone in the room, even through Zoom. He made this press conference feel like a chill hangout with friends. We even got to meet his adorable dogs Billy and Harry and have a mini-Q&A with them. I really think we all could have listened to Lauv talk for hours. Mark your calendars for August 5 to experience the remarkable artist that is Lauv.
Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 31, 2022.
Photos © 2022 Sam Fisher. Courtesy of The Oriel. All rights reserved.