Lau Ro :: Lau
Photo: Frances Joy Macgregor
Following up on their 2024 debut “Cabana”, the São Paulo-born, Brighton-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer Lau Ro returns to the sonic surface with perhaps their most highly anticipated body of work yet, “Lau”. Simply self-titled as a melodic measurement to carefully conceal, and poetically preserve the eager essence of coming into one’s self through tonal trial and effortless experimentation, Ro carefully conjures a unique universe where Brazilian traditions meet the outstanding obligations of an artist dedicated to their craft. This isn’t their sixth or eleventh album; it’s their sophomore release, and there’s something to be said about this move during a rather dark and confusing time in our world. On one hand, someone could argue that they feel trapped and completely helpless, and rightfully so, but on the other hand, you could take a trip to the beach, a lake, or even write an album. Free will can be a son of a bitch, and while we all have it to spend, it’s best to leave some kind of melodic mark, or intimate indication that you were here, and it wasn’t all bad, all the time. Featuring an incredible cast of players and local collaborators such as George Lloyd-Owen, Elaine Ambridge, and Jay Orpana, the album takes listeners on a jovial journey through the cryptic catacombs of the mind’s eye, while simultaneously showcasing those esoteric elements that make for a wonderful album in the end.
“We used multiple superimposed negatives to create the front and back images, highlighting the multiplicity in self. I was only able to bring this work to fruition by relinquishing any attempt at maintaining a singular, coherent narrative of who I am and what my work is supposed to do/be. It seems counterproductive to me in retrospect to attempt to define and contain the complexity of what it is to be a person. I’m not a brand. Once I finally stood back and gazed into the cover image, I recognized the familiar faces of dysmorphia and dysphoria and greeted them as old friends.”
Photo: Frances Joy
While bravely balancing the lyrical line drawn in the spiritual sands of time by musicians like Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and, of course, Marcos Valle, to name a few, Ro eagerly embraces those critical characters by darting into the darkness to demonstrate their very own brand of mystic melody and creative connections to the harrowing harmonies of the heart. Ro says, “The album is something I’ve poured quite a lot of time and madness into over this last couple of years”, and while the trepidatious timing of the world’s ugly affairs teeters on the brink of fictional fallout, the never-ending purpose for process, and merciless motivation for anything and everything creative will always manage to find that reckless balance in the fold. “Lau” splits open like a gestural geode waiting to be found, but absolutely content in its dormancy until then. Like all great things in life, you sometimes have to wait on the soft shores where patience perches like a biblical bird, before placing as much as a tender toe into its whispery waters. While immersing themselves in the feverish fundamentals of Bossa Nova, Tropicalia, and Música Popular Brasileira, the young artist breathes new life into the romantic realms of the cinematic content that make up their brand-new album on the New York-based label Mexican Summer, which is set for release in late June.
