Lo Lauren has released her debut single ‘Just Friends’.
A strip-backed release, blending spoken word verses and a vocoder chorus, the single spotlights her lyrical prowess.
Speaking of the single, Lo Lauren said: “It’s very stripped back, and it allows me space to grow, both vocally and in production” Lo explains. With the opening line, ‘We thought we could be friends, who thought that fucking was friendly?’ Lo sets out her agenda immediately, tackling the age-old ‘are we just friends?’ question; “It’s a pretty clear concept – it’s very literal.”
To celebrate her debut single release, Lo Lauren shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Just Friends’.
Olivia O’Brien & gnash – i hate u i love u | Listen via Spotify
I was influenced by this song in particular due to the melody and lyrics – the skippy, rhythmic, conversational verses mixed with a mellow and understated chorus. I like it when verses in songs feel like someone is literally almost talking to you…just in tune and this song really feels like that.
Billie Eilish – Ocean Eyes | Listen via Spotify
The production in this song is so spacious which creates such a chilled vibe – one I wanted to reflect in ‘Just Friends’. The vocal is also at the forefront, meaning none of the melody or lyrics were lost or distracted by the production.
Imogen Heap – Hide & Seek | Listen via Spotify
This is one of my all-time favourite songs, just layers on layers of vocals which hit you so hard. In the chorus’ on ‘Just Friends’, we layered the vocals with lots of harmonies and some vocoder which was influenced by this.
blackbear – Idfc | Listen via Spotify
blackbear always kills it he’s so sick & I really feel the emotion in this track – it’s brutal like some of the lyrics in ‘Just Friends’. I tried to be as honest as possible and not shy away from the truth even if sometimes it is hard to take. The production also remains quite simple and chilled for the majority of the track like ‘Just Friends’.
Halsey – Sorry | Listen via Spotify
‘Just Friends’ started off as a ballad and grew into something a bit more produced. I love the flow of Halsey’s verses in this song & how nothing distracts from the vocal.
You can listen to Lo Lauren ‘Just Friends’ via Spotify below: