Originally hailing from the UK and now based in Los Angeles, LAUREL has spent much of her career creating music that feels slightly removed from the everyday. The singer-songwriter and producer has developed a world built around emotive storytelling, ghostly vocals and atmospheric production, staking her claim as one of the more distinctive voices in the global indie music sphere. With more than 340 million global streams, cult audiences and sold out headline tours across the USA, Australia and Europe, her rise has been substantial and truly impressive.
Her musical journey first took shape with DOGVIOLET, the self-produced debut album that brought her wider recognition in 2018. From there, LAUREL continued to reshape her sound, eventually moving towards the synth-driven, 80s-inspired textures of 2024’s PALPITATIONS. Across those releases, her knack for emotional contrast has remained central to her songwriting, allowing moments of intimacy and contemplation to exist alongside expansive production. Her ability to create a complete artistic universe has also extended beyond the music itself; LAUREL has developed a strong connection with the fashion world while attracting support from BBC Radio 1 and triple j, alongside coverage from GQ, Vogue, The Observer, ELLE, The Independent, The Sunday Times and more.
Her live career has grown alongside that attention, with last year bringing an entirely sold out Australian headline tour, a sold out US headline tour and European festival appearances. Now, LAUREL is opening another door with “French Kiss”, the first release from a new era and the first song created for her upcoming album. Released through the 3 Vultures Records imprint, the track represents perhaps her most self-contained chapter thus far.
Written, recorded and produced entirely by LAUREL in her home studio, it offers a particularly direct expression of her creative vision. “French Kiss” introduces what LAUREL describes as a new British nostalgia dreamworld, centred around the seemingly unstoppable feeling of young love. However this isn’t nostalgia presented through rose-tinted glasses alone and the song carries both sides of the emotional equation, feeling buoyant and bruised at once. There’s exhilaration in its sense of romance, but it’s also cut with an awareness of everything that can exist underneath that rush.
Brought in by soft key tones, LAUREL’s hushed vocals enter to stitch delicate melodies via aching delivery into the intimate musical fabric. As backing layers swirl around her voice, the reverb-drenched textures add to the building atmosphere as the gentle pulse of percussion brings a marching rhythm. With her alluring vocals taking flight, the arrangement surges before simmering back down to a stripped back aesthetic, forming a mesmeric soundscape full of elegant melodic writing and intricate ebb and flow. Brimming with emotive songwriting and wrapped in a wholly absorbing arrangement, “French Kiss” serves up a dazzling musical moment that’s memorable, original and impossible not to be moved by.
Bringing the song to life on screen, the music video was shot, produced and edited in Paris, where LAUREL directed alongside her husband. Its romantic, film-grain style extends the song’s nostalgic atmosphere, creating an engrossing visual accompaniment that perfectly matches the music. Romantic, nostalgic and emotionally conflicted, “French Kiss” captures the rush of young love while keeping one foot firmly in the shadows while further building the excitement for a thrilling new chapter from this talented artist on an unstoppable rise.
Commenting on the single, she shares, “French Kiss is a return to my heart centre. I made the whole thing in under an hour in my bedroom in LA, it just flowed out of me almost as if it wasn’t mine. I think the best songs are like that. That’s why I prefer to write alone, there’s no obstruction to the flow, it comes straight out just as it was intended by the universe.”
Watch the music video for French Kiss below
More from Music
Frannie B drops new single “Echo”
Based in Oxford, Frannie B has been making an impact in the UK music scene with a pop-focused sound that …
Brand new single from Nick Norton-Smith
London-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Norton-Smith has built a decorated career across an unusually diverse musical landscape, moving between film, …
New full-length record from Divergent
While some musical ambitions take a little longer to find their moment, the journey for Iowa-based trio Divergent has been …
