Merseyside-born but now London-based songwriter Lois Levin creates music filled with complex emotive power.
Her latest single 'Sugar' pairs her trademark vocals, that are smooth in delivery and rich in tone, with a shimmering array of slick Jazz instrumentation. The tinkling piano notes bring a magical touch that draws your attention in close while the strings inject a more expansive, cinematic feel creating a beautiful concoction.
Fresh off a sell-out show at The Albert Hall Elgar Room and ahead of a returning hometown headline at The Jacaranda Liverpool on February 28th (Tickets) we caught with Lois to chat through lyricism, Liverpool and London.
Q. What was your experience of playing at the Albert Hall Elgar room? Did it feel like a milestone performance?
A. “ It did feel like a big moment but that feeling didn’t fully sink in until I got there. I think I'm quite a matter of fact person and I hate to get my hopes up about an experience, but it really was amazing. The thing is, everyone listens in those seated shows too, I'm so used to the raucousness of The pubs and the bars but it was such an intimate and personal experience. It really struck me that there were people coming up to me afterwards telling me about how they relate to the music because their mum passed away too. The main thing for me is the stories and personal feelings behind my songs so to have people opening up like that in response to the show was amazing”.
Q. Did it take you time to feel comfortable conveying those personal stories, such as the loss of your mum, in your music?
A. “Writing those kinds of lyrics has always felt fine to me. I mean ‘Burden’ was written when I was 15 so that kind of set the precedent. It's hard to go back after you release a song as personal as that. The tracks that are very personal have always gone down the best too. I write about my family a lot and I think with my mum not being here and my granny getting ill and growing up with my grandparents I've realised that what I wanted to do is to say thank you. So I'm trying to write thank you’s to those people for making me who I am. On one hand, I've missed out on a lot because of not having my mum here but then at the same time, I think it's been a massive driver of who I am.
It always makes me feel surprised and amazed that people do relate to them because you just write them songs in a room. They mean something to you only and you don’t ever think they’ll be connecting with people in that way but it’s an amazing feeling when they do”.
Q. Do you use any other creative outlets to draw on inspiration for songwriting?
A. “Yes definitely. My new favourite thing to do at the minute is write poems. It's to lie backwards on the bed with my head hanging off the bed, and at 2am I'm writing a poem. I think I have very direct songs lyrically. I don't know whether it's just the influences of Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone but I've got this ‘tell it how it is’ style when it comes to songwriting but when I do poetry I get into the nitty gritty of my inner soul and the more artsy side of me. I think that balance helps with the writing process. I also love to write songs on the train. I think that's where I'll write a Grammy-winner one day”.
Q. Where did the initial concept for your latest single ‘Sugar’ come from?
A. “I wrote Sugar because I was about to play a festival and I looked at my set and realised I didn’t really have upbeat songs. I thought ‘Jesus Christ, everyone's going to fall asleep’. I felt I needed something more upbeat to balance out the EP and balance out the live set. I wrote it on the acoustic and we were just about to sign off the EP and I was like ‘stop right there. I've got this song!’ My producer Jon Withnall was well up for it so we just recorded it really quickly. When it comes to the lyrics and theme I honestly just thought ‘why don't I have a song called sugar?’. I wanted something that was simple and instantly understandable. It’s just that pure feeling of liking someone and how they make you excited. It’s a simple but strong thing that we all feel so I wanted that really stripped back song title to match”.
Q. You grew up in Liverpool but then moved to London more recently, what impact do these different cities have on you?
A. “I always think I'm quite feral when I come back up North, and I'm probably more put together down South. When I come back up North, I'm back with my grandparents and I’ll see my dad. It's emotional to be in my childhood room and I think, in a way, coming up north brings back all the emotions that I maybe repress when I get down south. In London I'm just in constant work mode. I actually love being down south now because I've got such a good routine. It probably took me a year to do anything when I first moved down but now I've just got this new lease of life to want to go and smash stuff and I think you can tell that with the music that is coming out and what you are seeing on stage”.
Q. Did you find it easier to fit in musically in London?
A. “ I do feel like it's easier in London because there’s a lot of Indie bands and DJs that dominate in Liverpool. But I do play a guitar so you could call it Indie if you wanted to. When I'm up north you can call me Indie-Jazz, but down south you call me Jazz Soul. I wear Doc Martens as well so I really am Indie…”
Q. Speaking of the Docs, do you feel that your visual aesthetic helps you cultivate your brand as an artist?
A. “I think the music always has to be the most important thing for me. At first I started wearing suits live and then I realized that I can't do that because it's too hot under the lights. Then, I wore my leopard print pants and I thought ‘that doesn't look right’. The last show made me realise that my ‘image’ is the stories behind the songs. That feels weird to say because those stories are just my life but the stories, the voice and the music is the reason someone would come to see me, not my visual style”.
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