In an ode to the mother-child relationship and the unconditional love that accompanies it, LINA has explored the intricacies of its entanglement in her debut SUCKER.
And yet the album carries so much more, as she delves into the coexistence of joy and grief.
Sonically, it’s a narratorial undulation from shifting driving house beats and euphoric electronic production to melting piano riffs and LINA’s abyssal melodies and lyrics. Weaving the eclecticism of the album together is a consistent and velvety-warm undercurrent – a musical representation of the care applied to the macro and the micro.
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With two singles already shared – the journeying Can You Feel the Rhythm and the crescendoing anthem Still So Young – the full album is set for release on Friday, 26 June.
The album is being pressed onto vinyl too, with pre-orders now open for a lucky-dip range of colours. To celebrate its release, Lina is hosting an intimate and unique listening experience at Tender in Brunswick on Wednesday 17 June.
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It won’t be your standard listening party, though. She will be facilitating a 30-minute gentle yoga session that will flow into a meditative absorption of the full album. The evening will pair these two passions for LINA in a collaboration inspired by the connections she has formed over the years.
“My friend Lily and I had run a Sofar Sounds gig where I live-soundtracked ambient music to her teaching a yoga class,” states LINA. “The seed was planted in that moment, and since then, I’ve become a yoga teacher.
“With the softness, warmth and slowness in a lot of these songs, it’s going to be a great way to showcase the album as well as integrate both of those worlds. We exist in a fast-paced attention economy where we are constantly giving, and so I hope this event can offer people an opportunity to slow down, be with their breath and themselves and enjoy my music.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to premiere the album than through both of my great current loves: movement and music.” The sound of the album lends itself suitably to such a listening experience – one that has come about through the pursuit of authenticity.
“As my taste continues to expand, I’ve started to integrate ingredients from other people’s songs that I really like into my own music,” LINA outlines. “And the chill, dancey, housey tracks are something that I’d wanted to make for ages, but I didn’t really know how until it happened.
“For some of those songs, I actually used this program called Splice, which allows you to sift through different samples. Using that as a launch pad was really creatively enabling. You can almost hear the fun that I’m having in the Can You Feel the Rhythm and Defrost (ur soul).”
As a whole project, she danced between engaging with the individual songs in their uniqueness and constructing the broader idea as a whole.
“I think I had to zoom out enough to see that it was going to eventually be a whole album, but then in order to get each song done, I had to zoom in and focus on it track by track, recognising what was most important to me in the moment.
“When I was sitting down to piece the body of work together, it all became this harmonious revealing of a thread – a through line that rather unintentionally flows throughout.
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“During the whole process, I’ve been very intentional about the lightness and the darkness in the album – expressing a mid-twenties existentialism paired with falling in love, falling out of love, realising you’ve got work to do, all the while putting myself in the shoes of my friends who are mothers.
“The album weaves all that love, grief and joy, exploring the highs and lows, through upbeat moments as well as darker melancholy moments.”
Ultimately, much like the themes LINA has explored throughout SUCKER, the project has involved so much giving. It’s only been since finishing it and listening back to it that a reciprocity has emerged.
“It’s taken a lot from me, but it’s now starting to give a lot back. When I sit and listen to it, I realise the hard work is paying off, and that I’m able to let go of past chapters.”
As much a process of catharsis as an emergent expression of creativity, SUCKER is a serpentine journey through the possibilities of humanhood. It acts as an honest and evocative introduction to LINA, ahead of what will likely be a life spent in music.
SUCKER will be out on 26 June. For tickets to LINA’s debut album listening party on 17 June at Tender, head here.
