LP

Biography

With powerhouse vocals, genre-bucking attitude, and a sharp pen that distills potent feelings into soaring pop hooks, LP has become one of the most internationally beloved singer-songwriters of their generation. Skyrocketing to fame with 2017’s “Lost On You,” a heart-penetrating folk ballad that hit No. 1 in 18 countries, the Los Angeles-based artist has captivated an audience of over 25.7 million monthly listeners/viewers who pack their transcendent, sold-out shows around the world in more than 150 cities from 3,000 to 20,000 tickets. LP’s unparalleled catalog has amassed over 3B streams globally, filled with universal anthems of transformative love and self-discovery, capturing the complexity of the human experience through their eyes. “Songwriting is a way for me to go to the center of my own world,” LP explains, “and find the originality I needed to get for myself.”

Following their 2021 album, Churches, an arresting project reflecting on religion and belonging that was praised for being “emotionally raw” (Spin cover story) and “confidently genre-fluid” (The Independent), LP found themself searching the next, deeper layer of the story of who they are. After spending a year-and-a-half just “living and collecting experiences,” LP says, songs began pouring out with ease during sessions held between the island of Grand Cayman and Palm Springs. In just a few weeks, that flurry of creativity resulted in their seventh full-length, Love Lines, arriving September 29 via BMG.

Their most luminous and heart-expanding work yet, Love Lines see LP reflecting on the wide tapestry of relationships they’ve had in their life—romantic partners, family, and their own self—and how all these kaleidoscopic experiences have helped them get to the core of who they truly are. On the single “Golden,” LP sings of learning to appreciate the lessons that come from lost love. “We are golden / We’re not broken,” they sing with their expressive belt, equal parts captivating and tender.

There’s a sense of quiet confidence and gratitude that permeates Love Lines, which was influenced by the sundrenched expanse of California, and sweeps through a spectrum of Western-inspired sounds. It’s filled with the blow-out choruses that LP is best known for—“I think everybody’s kind of used to my anthemic thing. People are like, ‘Here it comes! Wait for the smack!,’” they joke—but it also sees them stretching out into acoustic ballads like the sentimental “One Like You” or new wave-inspired rock on “Love Song.” The project also reveals LP’s most masterful songwriting yet, each line a vivid gem of chest-pulling imagery. “I feel like I’m always getting more succinct and tight in my writing, having every word and sentence turning in on itself or expressing a duality, or even several feelings at once,” they say.

That feeling of comfort and deep self-understanding was also present in the writing sessions for Love Lines, which LP conducted alongside collaborators Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds of Summer), Andrew Berkeley Martin (Palaye Royale), and GRAMMY-nominated producer-songwriter Matthew Pauling. “I’m very pleased with the ease with which I can connect to myself through writing,” LP says. “This is the essence of me and what I’ve spent my life doing and cultivating and trying to understand and figure out. Even as a human, I feel like I just keep getting more and more dense, concentrated. I’m more me every fucking year. I’m like that coffee that you gotta add water to that’s like 15 times the strength.”

LP honed in on their own style through studying the greats—from Freddie Mercury and Jeff Buckley, to Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, and Roy Orbison. They emerged in the early 2000s with their daring blues rock-inflected debut Heart-Shaped Scar and 2004’s Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol, which brought two major label deals that yielded no records. Yet, on the power of their performance skills alone, LP soon landed a publishing deal where they got to learn to write songs alongside legends who had already scored hits that “made them like 50 million dollars, fer sure,” LP jokes. “I was sitting at the feet of these giants.” Seeing their songwriting breakthrough with Rihanna’s 2011 hit “Cheers (Drink to That),” they have also penned hits for Cher, the Backstreet Boys, Céline Dion, and Christina Aguilera.

In 2014, LP issued their Warner Brothers Records release, Forever for Now, whose breakout track “Into the Wild” sparked a frenzy of new listeners who first heard it in a Citibank television commercial and started searching the internet to find out who this talented singer was. International attention came with her next record, 2016’s Lost on You, which birthed the now-iconic title track, as well as “Muddy Waters,” which landed a prominent placement in the season four finale of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. LP kept up the momentum with 2018’s Heart to Mouth, which birthed more global hit singles like “Recovery” and “Girls Go Wild,” which was Italy’s most played radio hit of 2019, and again made waves in spring 2020 due to a remake featuring Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana.

A once-in-a-lifetime talent who possesses both wit and introspective depth, LP sees songwriting as their life’s calling, likening it to the art of comedy. “It’s putting someone at ease, helping their mind let go and get them ready to receive these emotions. Then they can let the song speak to their soul in the way that they want.” LP also calls performing their “connection to the world,” which will no doubt be further strengthened with the forthcoming, Love Lines. “I’m trying to reach out to more people all the time,” they add. “To make people feel good for even three minutes of a song.”