Philadelphia artist Autumn Luz “[connects] with parts of myself I had ignored for decades” on her transfixing debut album ‘Fragments’.
Autumn Luz has dug deep into the murky waters of childhood trauma on Fragments, a five-song collection that serves as the Philadelphia artist’s debut EP.
Culled from Luz’s broader 40-song catalogue, each track on ‘Fragments’ pulls from the singer-songwriter’s experiences as a girl, serving to describe “one element of one of the wildest years of my life,” she explained in a press statement.
Anchored by an art rock sound with flourishes of everything from jazz to indie rock and R&b, the project was created in collaboration with co-producer and co-writer Samwe.
Together, the collaborators trawl through Luz’s sharpest memories to distill the complexity of trauma and all of life’s heartache into beautiful songs, from the guitar-driven balladry of ‘Bone Marrow’ to the jittery layered vocals of lead single ‘Pang’.
Later, ‘King of Promises’, Luz ruminates on her unshakable spirit and broken promises atop mesmerising keyboard melodic figures and regal cellos, while ‘Shadow Man’ sees her purge years of resentment with the assist of rustic guitar melodies and Missy Higgins-like vocals.
Luz’s efforts culminate on the transcendent closer ‘(Sweet) Nothing’, a powerful reflection of love’s addictiveness and foolishness.
To deliver such captivating tracks on love and loss would be a feat for any artist, but ‘Fragments’ is doubly impressive given that it is Luz’s debut effort.
Perhaps such mastery should be expected, however, since the project features a starry array of credits including Grammy-winning engineer Samantha Rosen and bassist Mitch Beer, the latter of whom has worked with the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Lil Uzi Vert.
“These are sharp little pieces of my fragmented sense of self as a complex trauma survivor,” Luz explained in a press statement. “[It’s about] connecting with parts of myself I had ignored for decades, and setting myself free.”
Get swept up in the transfixing work of Autumn Luz with her full debut album ‘Fragments’ below.
