West-London artist Lava La Rue (they/them) has shared their long awaited new EP Butter-Fly, out via Marathon Artists. Recorded in L.A. and London with producers including Isom Innis (Foster The People), Dan Holloway and Courage, Butter-Fly is self-described as Lava’s attempt to ‘redefine what queer music can be; setting the agenda for queer music in the 20s’. Across five dexterous and confident tracks, from the euphoric ‘Angel‘ featuring Deb Never, to the dreamy dopamine hit of ‘G.O.Y.D‘ (with vocals from Clairo and production from Vegyn), the release marks a new milestone in Lava’s already stellar multi-disciplinary career.
Speaking on the project, Lava explains;
‘The whole project was made in a transitional time where I felt like I had finally found my wings and settled into a place where I was able to practice a lot of the things I believed in. I musically had pushed myself further than i had done before to capture a dreamy emotion of falling in love, entering my 20s, shrugging of insecurities you carry through your teens and recognising the kind of person I want to be in this world.’
‘So the word “butterfly” made sense, but I specially split up the word into “butter” and “fly” with the hyphen because both those words by them self it has both ugly and beautiful connotations; the word butter makes me think of grease and excess but also smoothness and taste (smooth like butter), and the word fly makes me think of the insect and it’s connection to death & excretion but also to literally fly and be liberated. I guess it represents the process to join those words together and be transitional. The hyphen is the growing pains. Then finally it’s the follow up project after “Stitches” ….butterfly stitches, the healing of wounds’
The EP lands with an incredible accompanying video for ‘Magpie’.
On the video, Lava explains; “The ‘Magpie’ music video is London’s subcultural history timeline personified into a person walking through a tube carriage. Showing many elements of how British Caribbean sound system culture, UK black punk, Notting Hill carnival, 2000s Grime & more, would become the blueprint of the contemporary music scene we know today. Pay close attention as each small detail represents moments of both the rise & sometimes the decline of these movements.”
Butter-Fly showcases Lava’s incredible dexterity as an artist – flitting between a honey-tinged vocal and trademark rap flow. A collection of queer love songs in various guises, Lava takes us on a journey of their sonic capabilities; from the 2020 dream-like intro ‘Magpie’, through the 2020 love ballad ‘Goofy Hearts’, to the psychedelic pop of ‘Lift You Up’ ft. Karma Kid.
|
|
|
