PICKS: Lapis' Inspirations
Published on 2020-09-07 00:00:00 by Will Soer
What do you picture when you think of a singer/songwriter? Cardigans, low-lit coffee bars and various acoustic guitars lurking around the room, waiting to bind their owners to the space? Lapis’ music explodes that space, using synthetic textures and thoughtful lyrics to explore friendship, hope and bare humanity, as on her debut LL release, Possy. Today she shares the influences of her particular perspectives, (all spotify-able tunes gathered in this playlist), take it and us away…
****The song that started it all for me. I began playing around with my Dads black Yamaha acoustic guitar, I could barely get my arm around it back then. I would spend my days on ultimate guitar learning covers of indie pop and country rock, Mango Tree was the first song I ever learnt.Another from my acoustic days. Brings back memories of builders knocking around our new house in the day whilst I find empty acoustic spaces in the evening to write and get lost in the echo of each space. Loved harmonising to this song.Such an amazing lyricist and wild experimentation of instruments. R&B/Hip-hop with no restrictions and complete freedom in each track. Their lead singer Nai Palm opened up a whole new conversation with music in regards to the endless vocal possibility within a piece of music. Such a great band! R&B/Hip Hop artist and only 14 years old at the time of ‘Without You’. Its a song I cant live without.
Woke a tribal side to me, my favourite of all, a really exciting experimental dance music artist. After spending a long time being totally obsessed with his music, he happened to be performing at a local festival in my hometown in Totnes, called ‘Sea Change’. I have never seen such total immersion when performing, his body became the music. Another tribal one. A relationship with the natural world is something I connect to in my music listening, throughout the past few years I have really enjoyed world sounds and spoken vocals. Back to Nature inspired my first release ’[_Within All Things_](https://looselips123.bandcamp.com/track/lapis-within-all-things-prod-dr-pudding)’ and led me into a journey of exploring my vocals with a more laid back approach.Tirzah is an amazing singer/songwriter from the UK whose production showed me how electronic music and female vocals can sound beautiful without having to be intimidating. It inspired me to start producing my own music and take that leap.The truth to such a natural, effortless expression. I love Michael, he’s one of my best friends brothers who makes me cry with laughter when I see him, and tear up with his music. He’s such a unique artist who makes everyone stop and listen in such a beautiful way. Another dreamy folk influence. An Australian band found gigging in small pub in Bristol, such an intimate space to find these guys. Totally taken back by the drummer and vocalist fusing of Jazz, Hip-hop, Techno, ‘Nu spring’ looses me everytime with its constant motion and energy.16 minutes of electronic elements and traditional African rhythms. I love this combination of music, it feels really relevant in todays pattern. A good one to run to in the morning!Written by Will Soer
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