The British rising star LOLA YOUNG celebrates the release of her new EP Renaissance with a brand-new track ‘Same Bed’ accompanied by a dreamy video shot during the quarantine. Inviting listeners in with her raw vocals and diaristic lyrics, Lola Young’s new EP Renaissance judiciously explores romanticism and emotion with a maturity beyond her years. The EP opens with ‘Pick Me Up’ which launched with an incredible session for Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show last month. ‘Same Bed’ then follows with a laidback and soulful mix of R&B and jazz before closing with ‘None For You’. Lola gave a spine-tingling performance of the final track in the echoing halls of London’s V&A museum for the accompanying video, marking the first time that an artist has been permitted to record there. Stream Renaissance here and check out our QA sesh below.
Lola both your debut album Intro and now your EP Renaissance feature paintings, do you have any particular connection to these or was it a purely aesthetic choice?
I love renaissance imagery and paintings and have done since I was little so for me It was a mixture between an aesthetic feature and something that has always meant a lot to me. Renaissance paintings show the ideology of rebirth and a new period of time and new beginnings. I believe that in a person’s life they have many rebirths just in the simple sense of turning chapters so I used this imagery for my artwork as it symbolises a lot for me.
You’ve shot your latest music video ‘Same Bed’ in quarantine, how different was the creative process under these circumstances?
It was very different but it was really fun. It made the music video feel a lot more personal and I’m so proud of it because so much of my hard work went it to it. Tash was amazing to work with and my boyfriend did so much, it was such a fun yet learning experience. It was different because it was a lot more hard work than usual music videos as Aaron and I had to do most of it ourselves as no one was allowed in the flat but it turned out amazing.
Does your new EP Renaissance mean your rebirth as a person?
Yes. I think yes because since I went through a bad chapter in my life due to my mental health condition, things really changed for me and so did my music, I became a lot stronger as a person and a lot more intuitive and introspective, and my music grew alongside me in a weird way. the process of writing Intro made me become so much more self-aware and helped me develop an understanding of myself. This, therefore, helped me grow and learn more about the music I wanted to make at the time and also the music that I hopefully can make in the future
Is your artistic moniker a reference to Baroness Young of Hornsey?
No, it’s my actual name, lol.
Do you have any other releases planned for this year?
Yes, I have this one tune coming out soon called Woman, I am so excited about it. We just shot the music video and without giving too much away I think it was the most empowering, freeing thing I have ever done. It is a tune that touches on feminist viewpoints, I can not wait for everyone to see it and hopefully, it will be a whole new step in my career.
