LP
Ryan JayMusician LP will be happy if they never have to play another drive-in show. The 40-year-old singer has performed for a lot of audiences all over the world, but couldn’t get used to car horns instead of applause at the multiple drive-in shows they did over the pandemic.
“We’re not meant to sing to f—ing cars,” LP tells Billboard. “But I feel like people enjoyed it and they got to feel like they were doing something again.”
Throughout the fall, LP has been touring their latest album Churches – out now via SOTA Records – to growing audiences across the globe including Hungary, France and England. In 2022, the artist will spend more than six months touring the world with their most uptempo album to date.
The music video for “The One That You Love” — the first single from Churches – has already generated more than 25 million YouTube views for the Western-inspired track. LP released an additional four tracks from their sixth studio album for more than 27 million more YouTube views and, on Friday (Dec. 3), debuts a video for “Conversation” in conjunction with the album’s release.
The “Conversation” video features two versions of LP attempting to communicate, to no avail. LP describes the video as, “Me being in two different outfits and one of me was not hearing, or not understanding, and beating their head against the wall.” Check out the new video below.
They hope the new album translates better to their fans who had to wait 14 extra months from when Churches was originally scheduled to come out. According to LP, the wait generated four additional songs and has come to “incorporate feelings people felt before and after the pandemic.”
“If you’re already a fan of mine, you’re going to dig this album. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I’m trying to chronicle my own life and my story,” LP says, adding that they believe they’ve found a tribe out there and it’s about making them happy.
The 15-track album fits seamlessly into LP’s canon – both sonically and thematically. Churches’ production is lush with handclapping beats and LP’s powerful vocals. The album’s executive producer Mike Del Rio says, “We imagined this music being experienced as some sort of sweet release after a dark time.” He adds, “As fluid and as genre-less as LP is, the music we make is always a pursuit of reflecting their philosophy with a message of love and connection at its center.”
For LP, finally getting to release the aptly named album is cathartic. “Church, for me, is what everybody finds sacred in their life, in their heart,” they tell Billboard. “These songs are my way of expressing my love and the depth of my connection to people.”
Taylor Swift believes Nashville has a music scene that stands apart from anywhere else.
The 36 year old singer moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when she was young to chase her dream of becoming a country music star. After being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Monday (26.10.26), Taylor took the opportunity to recognise the city and the talented writers who have helped shape its music scene.
In her acceptance speech, Taylor said: "I believe you really get to master a craft by doing it again and again. That's exactly what the incredible songwriters in this wonderful town do every day."
Taylor also spoke about what makes Nashville such a special place for musicians.
The award winning singer, who ranks among the best selling music artists of all time, said: "You won't find another music community quite like this one. Trust me, I've checked them all."
Taylor also shared how being part of Nashville's songwriting scene had taught her valuable lessons about life and working with others.
She joked: "I've learned to be flexible when your co writer turns up with a hangover, or when they need to spend ages talking about their divorce before we can even get started on a song."
Taylor previously spoke about how Faith Hill and Shania Twain inspired her decision to move to Nashville.
Speaking to Time magazine, the singer said: "I couldn't get enough of watching TV biographies about Faith Hill and Shania Twain, and I realised they had both moved to Nashville to get their careers started. After that, I kept asking, pleading and begging my parents to take me there.
"When I was 11, my mum took my brother and me to Nashville during spring break, and we spent the trip driving around Music Row. She stayed in the car while I rushed into record companies one after another, giving my demo CD to the receptionists. I found it fascinating that so many major record labels were gathered along a single street, often inside little buildings and old houses.
"What really stayed with me was how welcoming people were to newcomers and complete strangers like us. We started visiting Nashville more often, and when I was 13, I received an offer for a development deal from a major record label. That was when my parents finally agreed to leave Pennsylvania and move with me."
