It seems only fair that I start this off by confessing a major bias: LÉON is easily one of my top 3 favourite female artists. It was her songs that defined most of the collective music taste of my university friend group, and we absolutely count ourselves among the devoted worldwide following the she’s collected over the past few years. Her music has been on repeat on my Spotify for so long now that whenever it comes on it feels like a cozy pair of old jeans – so warmly familiar.
Now bias aside – let’s talk about why she deserves all the praise.
Following a few incredible EPs, LÉON – a.k.a. Swedish-born Lotta Lindgren – finally delivered her eponymous debut album last year and it was...I think truly perfect? (Right, ok, I'll check my bias.) The album beautifully showcases all of her best elements, strewn with infectious pop beats and melodies and covering everything from fun bops to intimate ballads. Its 11 tracks quickly became the soundtrack of my fourth year of uni --- the score of everything from parties to library sessions.
With a cellist mother and classical conductor/composer father, it’s fair to say that a musical flair is in her genes. But on top of her unbelievable knack for songwriting, it's her inimitable voice and vocal dexterity that really mark her style. I’m always amazed at how flawlessly she can run her voice from a dusky alto to a breathless falsetto and back down again. And all the more defining: she sings with so much life and unrestraint that every lyric seems to come out spontaneously – as if she’s reliving the emotions real time. (Her 2016 single Liar shows this particularly well.)
She’s delivered with every release and has raised the bar for emotional depth in pop music. Beyond the music, she also just has a super lovable persona. Both in her live sets and social media style, she exudes an elegant confidence that is marked by strong, retro femininity. This is to say, she's extremely easy to admire.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into this album.
LÉON has described in interviews that she sees each of the 11 songs as different colours in a palette, making the overall record filled with vibrant standouts. There’s a vintage filter on the entire collection -- as always, consistent with LÉON's retro aesthetic --- and it shows right from the opening track, Lost Time, complete with a faded organ. The track makes for a happy start to the record – an anthem-like declaration of gratitude for a new love.
One of my favourites, Falling, follows. By now, a lot of my love for this song comes from the many associated happy memories of dancing with friends – it’s such a FUN one. The main beat is irresistibly groovy, and melodically it's the perfect mix of earnest and fun – a cheeky ode to end-of-night antics: “Now I’m calling you up to see where you are / Why is it so easy to break the rules after dark?” If you need any more reason to love this song, watching LÉON in her element dancing to it might just do the trick:
Two other irrefutable dance hits from the record are Baby Don’t Talk and You And I, the superb closer. But the list of grooviest tracks wouldn’t be complete without mention of Better In The Dark. A whimsically bittersweet one, the song finds LÉON musing over a rolling beat about the secret intimacy of late night flings: “We’re happy hiding in the shadows / doing what lovers do / We never talk about tomorrow / No that ain’t what we do”.
But for every upbeat piece of pop, she offers an equally lovable ballad. The focal example is Come Home To Me, in which she sings alone with a piano ---- by far the most Adele-like of her songs to date (and that is NOT a complaint). It slows down the album with a beautiful melody – reflecting, as the singer once described it, on “how frustrating and hard it can be to be in a long relationship.”
The other stripped-back hard hitter is Cruel To Care, in LÉON’s words: “A song that I wrote when I woke up one morning and was pretty hungover and was feeling sorry for myself (as you do). Sat on my bed and recorded it on my phone and that’s the only recording I have of it.” It’s that very version that ended up on her debut collection, making it a special moment on the record because it’s the one raw glimpse that we get of just Lotta – hungover and mulling over the night before like the rest of us. Let’s also just note the confidence you must have in your talent as an artist to include on your debut record a song demo recorded on your phone while stewing in your Sunday scaries. Brava.
With this album LÉON also proved her growth as an artist through its high level of production, for which Pink stands out above the rest. The synths control most of the composition until the song’s bridge, when the strings join in more fully to build on the feeling of emotional urgency. The vocal editing is beautiful, and lyrics that could otherwise have come off as overused are given refreshing sincerity thanks to her delivery – “If you knew how many times I turned into a fool over you / If you knew how many hours my mind spent on you.”
The story that she conveys through Pink – the heartache of having to watch someone you deeply desire with someone else – continues in Hope Is A Heartache, easily one of the best of the album. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song whose instrumentation so perfectly matches its story: the tension builds as LÉON’s vocals sing up key to key, but the song leaves you hanging. You never reach a climax, instead experiencing in real time the unbearable bubbling up of emotion that she is singing about (“When I talk about you, I’m afraid to say too much”).
This debut earned LÉON a stone-held spot of recognition in the music industry. Luckily since its release she hasn’t made us wait long for new songs to love, with 3 gorgeous singles already out this year. Now we await her next album, set to be released in October -- and if her track record to date is any indication, we’re in for something special.
Happy listening! :)
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