LP has a swagger you can’t lay a finger on, a voice you can’t replicate, and a catalogue of fiercely emotive tracks. We just had to learn more.
We’d genuinely be surprised if you hadn’t heard an LP track, or at the very least, a song she’s penned for another – Cher, Rihanna, and Backstreet Boys, amidst plenty others, have benefited from her songwriting chops. Since her breakout hit Into the Wild (2014) and her global chart-topper Lost On You (2016), the kindred artist has dished out track after track of raw power.
Her most recent offering was Angels, a head-bopping ballad with an insane vocal performance to boot. It was the lead single off her upcoming record, Churches. We talked with her about the new record, what it is to be an artist, and knowing whether a song is a hit or not. Take a look.
HAPPY: Hey LP! How are you?
LP: I’m good. Just… you know… jet-lagged, but…
HAPPY: Oh, really?
LP: Yeah, I got back like Monday, but I’m just like tired… like it’s just, you know, it’s just your basic jet lag.
HAPPY: Taking a while to kick back into the regular cycle, I guess.
LP: Yeah.
HAPPY: So how have things been besides the jet lag?
LP: Oh, great. I mean, you know, we did like a month in Europe, went from like Turkey to London, Paris, Stuttgart, Budapest, Bucharest, Moscow to Israel. Covid shit happened, got postponed, all different shit. It was like… it was cool. It’s great to see people again. It seemed like it got more and more wild as it went like… you know, I mean, things are getting back.
HAPPY: Yeah. Well, I’m glad you had a good tour. It’s all wrapped up now?
LP: Oh, yeah, I mean, for now, yeah. I have another big show in Mexico at the end of November. And then, you know, in and around promo and all this stuff and January, that’s when shit really kicks in.
HAPPY: Oh my gosh. So that’s sort of leading you back into that…
LP: Yeah. Like, this was the appetiser. You know, even like the London and Paris shows were… they were all underplayed and they were just like two small shows. One was so tiny. It’s like this little cool theatre that one of the Mumford guys made.
And it’s just like… I mean, it looked like we were going to put a puppet show on, it was so fucking small, but it was just adorable. But the sound is really good, and it was for, like, you know, a really small audience and industry, kind of just like a teaser gig this one.
HAPPY: It sounds awesome. And were you happy with the responses to the new songs? Did you play many of them?
LP: Insanely happy. I mean, I think everybody was like… well, Angels hadn’t even come out yet, and we were just doing it as like a teaser. Yeah, that was fun to see the reaction. You know, it seems like the new stuff is hitting people quite well. You know, I’m happy with it.
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HAPPY: That’s awesome. I wanted to congratulate you on the songs, I was just blown away. I love it, and I’m sure a lot of people will love the whole thing. Like, it’s just amazing.
LP: Thanks. It feels good as a whole body of work, I think, for me too. You know, I don’t know… I’m at that stage where it’s like, god forbid, no expectations or anything. You can’t do it. But it does feel like it’s like, you know, the group of songs belong together and feel very… the whole thing is a good listen.
HAPPY: I feel like there was so many… there were those themes of like certainty and triumph, so it was very empowering to listen to. But it was also very emotional and therapeutic in a way because, you know, you’re so honest on it and you put things very poetically that it sort of shines a positive light on those more difficult experiences in life.
LP: Thanks. I mean, I try to put it down with a spoonful of sugar, you know, Mary Poppins style.
HAPPY: Love that.
LP: When I woke up this morning, I did not think I would reference Mary Poppins. I think I’ve never referenced Mary Poppins in my whole fucking life. So there you go. Here’s a first for you. You got it hot off the presses.
HAPPY: Oh my god. Bit of inspo for the next album.
LP: Who you next speak to be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve just interviewed LP.’ ‘Oh, you did?’ ‘Yeah, she loves Mary Poppins.‘ I don’t know.
HAPPY: Well, thank you for that. It was nice. Everyone loves Mary Poppins.
LP: Well, if you don’t, you have no soul, there’s something wrong with you.
HAPPY: Exactly. Julie Andrews, what a queen. I wanted to ask about Angels as well, which is your most recent release. Can you tell me a bit about the track and how you found its sound?
LP: Well, it was interesting because me and Nate and Kyle wrote the song and it was done, you know what I mean? Like, all the stuff was for the most part done, but then Mike del Rio, from the second I told him I had that title that I wanted to do, he was like, ‘oh man, can I write that with you?’ And I was like, ‘nope’. I mean, I didn’t say no, but it just kind of happened to pop out when I was doing my session with Nate and Kyle.
And you know, we wrote it in like one day and then I remember I played it for Mike and he was like, ‘oh my god, I love it’. And then the first thing he did was slow it down because it was a bit faster when we wrote it. And as soon as he did that, we were all like, ‘woah, oh, this is dope’.
And then, you know, then him and Kyle and Nate produced it and stuff. But yeah, I mean, I basically felt like I knew what it was going to be quick as soon as I had the title because I just knew I wanted it to be, you know, kind of just simple. And it is simple. It’s like, you know, it’s deep, but it’s not that deep. You know, it’s like conceptually… it is deep to think that there’s angels around me, but I mean, I’m pretty positive. I know mine are there. So I don’t really think about it. You know what I mean? And I don’t really care what anybody else thinks about it. So you could tell that the song is just kind of like this innocent like kind of ditty that just like feels like, ‘yeah, there’s angels all around us. If you don’t believe it, I don’t give a fuck’, you know, it’s whatever.
HAPPY: I love it. And the music video as well for it, it’s only come out under a week ago, and it’s already got like over 400,000 views.
LP: Oh, really? Nice. I don’t even think it’s been a week yet. And it wasn’t meant to be full-on… like when I saw it, because we just shot four lyric videos in one day, so that was one of them, and we whipped through it. Do you know what I mean? Like, you know, we did that old trick where I sing it really sped up. That’s why it has this like kind of floaty, kind of slow quality. And yeah, it was done in like five seconds.
I mean, I think I sang it really fast through twice, and that was it. And then, you know, Steven shot the other footage with the angels, the models, and stuff like that. And it was the intent was for it to be a lyric video always. And then I was going to possibly shoot another video for it. But I don’t know, now that I look at it, it just feels right. There’s just… it’s the right thing for that song. It doesn’t need any other real narrative, I don’t think.
HAPPY: Yeah, I liked the integration of the lyrics with the video because it’s not something that’s typically done, but I think it adds another element of storytelling to it, which I thought was cool to see visually. I also love the scene with the shooting the arrows, and I like how it wasn’t so serious and, you know, sort of a bit more playful, especially with those failed arrow shots.
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LP: Oh yeah, right? The thing that’s funny is that I’m thinking about it while I’m watching it. I’m like, ‘so I’m like, excited that there are angels around me and I’m shooting at them. What am I doing?’ I mean, I don’t know what… but I think it’s kind of like you’re a scared little human shooting at your angels, not knowing they’re watching over you. But yeah, it was just like, I don’t know. I was just joking around and everything. And I think, when I first saw it, I was like, ‘I hope there’s not… it doesn’t seem too cutesy’. And then I was like, ‘you know what? Fuck you, I’m going to be cute as a little dumpling. I don’t care’. You know, it’s just like… it’s a song called Angels, for god’s sake. Fuck it.
HAPPY: So another question about your YouTube. You know, on YouTube, you’ve got over 2.4 million views daily and your songs have millions of streams a day. How difficult is it to make sure you’re writing music for yourself when you know so many other people are watching?
LP: Oh, you know… as much as I think about it, I don’t think about it, you know? I think, you know, it’s weird. I don’t like… I feel a responsibility to the people that are already my fans and I feel like for me, not to sound like… I mean, you’re always your first fan, you know what I mean? If I can’t stop listening to a song, then I can tell that, you know, because I’m pretty honest with myself, like trust me, I’ve gotten songs where I’m like, ‘I never need to listen to that song ever again’.
You know, like, it’s just not good, or it’s just boring, whatever, you know? But like when I’m like, ‘oh shit, I love this’, it’s basically the car test. Like a lot of times, I’ll have like a quick demo of the session when I leave that day and I’ll get in the car and you know, I’ve been writing the fucking thing all day, singing it all day, and then I get in the car and I just like, can’t stop playing it. I’m like, ‘this might be good’.
HAPPY: That’s a good sign.
LP: And you know, as I said, I’m not like, narcissistic about my songs, because I’ve been doing it so long that it’s like, I’m just like, I know when the song is right. And, you know, like vocally, I always kind of make things sound like they’re slightly better than they are. Do you know what I mean? Like, the way I’ll sing something sometimes, you know, I think it’s like with any decent vocalist, I make it sound like a hit. And it’s not a hit. And when I was able to separate that more and more, I was like, ‘well, it sounds like something, but it’s not anything, unfortunately. Sorry, everyone’.
HAPPY: Yeah, that’s true. But those like little elements, I think just added that magic that I feel is lacking in a lot of music today and that creativity was just so refreshing to listen to. It’s a beautiful album.
LP: Thanks, man. I think that this record, and as I go on and on in my thing, I feel definitely sure that I’m just doing my own thing, that it’s not trying to be anything else, you know? And you know, of course, there’s so much derivative stuff in what anybody does. I just… I’m doing what I’m doing regardless of what’s going on trend-wise. I mean, I’ve been here for a minute. And again, that’s not to say… I’m not speaking to whether it’s original per say, like it might be in a weird time to do it. I’m not sure, but I just kind of do whatever I feel like.
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HAPPY: But I think like those theatrical sides of the music are so refreshing because, like you said, like, it’s not something that you hear so much today. But you’ve infused it with pop and made it really catchy and yeah, it’s just addictive stuff to listen to.
LP: Oh, cool. It’s a guilty pleasure sometimes.
HAPPY: Not at all. I was picturing putting the music on at parties and stuff because it’s sick. And when I was listening to it, I was like, ‘I wonder if LP would ever score a cinematic piece or something’, just because the song is the whole thing.
LP: I might, I don’t know. I like the idea, you know. I have friends that do it and stuff, and I have a friend who’s been asking me to do it, you know? Yeah, and sometimes I’m like… ‘uhhhhh, I don’t know’. I mean, I think I’d probably… like I feel like sometimes I’m just so dedicated to… what I’d like to do more so than that is write a musical.
HAPPY: Oh yeah, I could see that.
LP: You know, I feel like I’m more suited toward that because, you know, a great story. And then just try to like, write all the songs for it. You know, that to me, would be a really interesting challenge. And I think, you know, the scope of what I do could be more of that.
HAPPY: There would be like visual other visual elements you could put into that as well. And yeah, write a musical and star in it. And how cool would that be?
LP: Yeah, like The Dyke of Wall Street. I’m kidding. I have no idea. That was just the first thing that popped out of my head.
HAPPY: I actually love that.
LP: It’s about some dyke who makes no money on Wall Street. Yeah. You know how we do. I have one idea for one, but I don’t know if it matters anymore. But yeah, a friend of mine, a French friend of mine, a gay dude who’s a writer, we talked about maybe like, you know, writing some dope ass fucking ode to being gay in present times musical, I don’t know. We’ll see.
HAPPY: Oh my god, I think that would pop off. So that’s all the questions that I have for you, LP. Was there anything that you wanted to discuss that I didn’t bring up?
LP: No, I think that’s it. But thank you so much. It was such a fun interview. I appreciate it.
Churches is out December 3rd. Stream or buy your copy here.
Interview by Alexandra Stefanovic
Photos by Ryan Jay / Provided
