New music
Liz Lawrence has always sought to enrich her songwriting by absorbing the influence of other art forms. An artist who seeks out connection, her new album ‘Peanuts’ – due for release on June 7th – aims to build community through its lyricism.
Politicised and potent, ‘Peanuts’ allows Liz space to push back against our modern dystopia. “We are disconnecting from each other at a time when we’ve never needed connection more,” Lawrence says. “I am afraid that we’re losing physical spaces, and community spaces, and a sense of us all being together. More than ever, I think we have to rally against that loss.”
Built alongside producer Ali Chant, the album is preceded by 6Music favourite ‘Big Machine’. Set to hit the Great Escape in Brighton this weekend, Liz Lawrence will then play a series of in-stores around the country in June.
Ahead of this, CLASH chatted cultural touchstones with Liz Lawrence.
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Books
The book I’ve thought the most about recently is Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. It was made into that big blockbuster film but the book is incredible. I’ve never read a history book laid out in narrative form before and it’s so effective, especially with the pictures the author used. It’s not a dry history book, trust me.
TV
I love Masterchef at the moment, I think food is great, I’m hungry a lot and I like to cook. I also loved This Town because I don’t think I’ve ever watched a TV show that mentions Redditch before.
Music
Adrianne Lenker is at the front of my mind at the moment. I tried to do a cover of ‘Anything’ recently and just getting inside her music in that way made me admire her even more. She’s really off kilter and she’s both secretly and obviously brilliant.
Film
I just watched Children of Men which was way more crusty than I expected and felt really poignant for lots of reasons but the idea of hope is something I’m always interested in exploring.
Gadget
It’s the gayest thing ever but I never go anywhere without my Swiss army knife (except it got taken off me at the Tate Britain). It’s like I get to walk around knowing that I’d be able to do a whole list of jobs for people should the opportunity arise and that gives me swag.
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Photo Credit: Emily Marcovecchio
