LP reflects on success and comes to Brazil with a new album in mind: ‘Making the shit* I want’

LP is back in Brazil less than a year after its performance at Lollapalooza 2022. Laura Pergolizzi performs at Audio (Sao Paulo) on February 8th, and revealed what the public can expect in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone Brazil.

Last year, she was the first artist to perform after the storm warning that paralyzed the festival at the Interlagos Circuit. Although she started the show while the audience still returned to the stage, LP captivated even those who were not fans and had a good choir from the audience during the execution of the hit “lost on you.”

Her discography has not gained any additions since then, but the singer arrives in the country full of new ideas. “I’m working on a new album, my head is full of news, but I can’t play it yet. The first single only comes out in April. About the show, I’m going to try to deliver everything that the public loves, if they love something,” he stated with shades of playful irony that he carried throughout the interview.

The setbacks of a festival like the Lollapalooza seem small compared to the mission that LP faced to consolidate in the music industry. Starting out as a songwriter in the 2000s, she wrote for artists like Rihanna, Backstreet BoysIt is Cherbut did not see her career as a singer take off.

“I was trying to find my type of music, and I’m very eclectic as a songwriter. My music is… genre-fluid [risos]. It’s rock, half folk, half pop. I think that’s why it took me a while to find myself, amid so many contracts with record companies, with Warner it was my 5th,” he said.

If this was the scenario in 2012, with the release of one of his great hits, “Into The Wild,” the following years would bring the expected freedom to work the way I wanted, even with commercial constraints. The next LP, successor to churches (2021), follows the line “doing whatever shit I want,” driven by solitary and accompanied experiences.

Check out the full interview by LP The Rolling Stone Brazil:

Rolling Stone Brazil: You’re coming to Brazil again!
LP: I am very anxious. It’s always nice to come and do your own show after a festival. Are you excited?

Yes! Her Lollapalooza show took place at one of the first events after ‘that’.
“That,” the thing that happened that we shouldn’t talk about. I was also the first band to play after the storm. ‘Let’s keep going while people come back in.’ Great idea.
In 2020, I played at Lollapalooza in Chicago, the original. I was on a smaller but very beautiful stage. I was so excited, everything looked great. Until a lightning storm started, the audience was evacuated. And I was the first band after the comeback. There were half the people that were there before, the sound all fucked up. It was amazing [risos]. But honestly the Lollapalooza it’s a great festival. They’re quick to get everything ready, nobody gets hurt… they know what they’re doing.

What can the public expect from your solo performance?
A bigger setlist, it’s four discs. It’s funny, I’m working on a new album, my head is full of news, but I can’t play it yet. The first single only comes out in April. About the show, I’m going to try to deliver everything the audience loves, if they love something.

You’ve been in business for quite some time, but you’ve started to gain even more recognition over the past decade. What was the key moment in your career?
The music “Into the Wild” was one of those moments back in 2011 or 2012. This track has had a bit of an odd journey. I wouldn’t call it a tragedy, because it yielded a lot of things for me. But it was very clear to me at that moment that I was being recognized. I was trying to find my type of music, and I’m very eclectic as a songwriter. My music is… genre-fluid [risos]. It’s rock, half folk, half pop. I think that’s why it took me a while to find myself, amid so many contracts with record companies, with Warner it was my 5th.
“Into The Wild” was a jump, and in “lost on you” I thought: ‘really?’. I thought I would be indie, a songwriter. I still write for other people, but I have my own work. I think that I can and should do what I want, and that’s very good. My next record is more along those lines, doing whatever shit I want.

Do you think your ability to make pop melodies in songs with folk and rock characteristics is what has brought you to work with other artists?
I think my voice brings cohesion to everything. I can do the shit I do because I can sing [risos], so people relegate. I don’t know how I get away with it, that’s my answer.

Do you think it works better when you sing your own songs?
Yes. I know how to work with my own songs. But in a song like “cheers,” sung by Rihanna…she’s so much better than me.

How is the process of composing as a solo artist?
I like working with collaborations. My last songwriting group was like a band. I like to feel like I’m part of something. From an early age, I always wanted to be in a band. I have a lot of respect for the groups that are out there, I have a few friends who have made it that way, but the shit they have to go through… It’s like walking through a crowd holding hands with four people. [risos]. Is very difficult!
As a solo artist, if I don’t like the direction something is going, I might say, “That’s not exactly what I’m going for.” I like that feeling. But honestly, it’s in a spirit of collaboration that you get the best things in the world. Life is a collaboration.

Is it like producing your own work?
Yes… The captain of the team. In the end, it’s my songs, expressions, themes and melodies. But when I write for other people, the compositions belong to them.

You mentioned your new record. What kind of sound should it bring?
A Californian vibe. He was born in two months. Two giant sessions, in the Cayman Islands and in Palm Springs. I’ve had a lot of experiences over the last few years, with women, with myself. I had a lot on my mind… women, women, women [risos]. I’ve experienced a lot of things I wanted to write about, so it was quick. It’s like a breeze. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like LP Classic, but new.

Fresh, maybe.
It’s very fresh, that’s the word. Fresh as fuck*.

What have you been listening to lately?
I loved this disc SZA, very good. I’ve been listeningFake Plastic Trees,” of radiohead, over and over again. that song from Leo Sayer, [cantando] “When I need you / I just close my eyes and I’m with you”. Old stuff like that. A bit of Carly Simon. Chappell Roan, a really cool new artist who works with one of my agents. She is very fun. Ever Rolling Stones“You Got the Silver.” Frank Sinatra…

Eclectic choices.
In SZA The Sinatra.

Will you have time to visit something in Brazil?
I hope so. I want to see that statue with a big guy [LP abriu osbraços].

Christ the Redeemer?
Is this the guy? Brazil icon. Sometimes it’s difficult, getting to places in South America takes a while. Traveling is always a pain in the ass.

Do you have a message for the fans?
Can’t wait to see them. We will definitely have fun. I hope to cheer everyone up and get them excited for the next record as well. We’ll see.

This time we won’t have rain at least.
Yes!