Lauv Talks About The Healing Process Of Creating His New Album ‘All 4 Nothing’

Samantha Colleran, August 2022

Lauv photographed by Sam Fisher

Lauv is a multi talented singer songwriter who grew in popularity with the release of his debut album I met you when I was 18, which features the hit “I Like Me Better” featured in the Netflix movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, and his sophomore album ~how I’m feeling~. His newest project, All 4 Nothing, is set to release on August 5, and it’s a highly anticipated release for Lauv. Diving deeper into more vulnerable lyrical content and exploring new sounds, Lauv was kind enough to sit with 1824 to discuss the new album, and share a few tracks with participants (for purposes of keeping it confidential, I won’t share which ones, but trust me when I say no one is ready for this album drop)!

When writing for previous albums, Lauv shared he used to be a bit of a control freak in the studio when it came to production, but for All 4 Nothing Lauv stepped deeper into the singer songwriter role and allowed close friends to take the wheel on the production. An ability to focus more on lyrics allowed Lauv to create a deep, authentic body of work that follows his journey to reconnect with his true self after feeling lost in his career for so long, as well as all the positive and negative feelings that come with that connection. 

Reconnecting with his inner self allowed Lauv to approach this album with an honest perspective; it’s unfiltered and not a clean, polished pop record. During this creative process, Lauv spent a lot of time finding confidence in himself again, striving to find calm feelings he felt before life got crazy and complicated. He shared with conference participants that he’s been meditating a lot and healing his inner child, things he’s still working on every single day. This inner work has allowed music making to become fun again; Lauv was often stuck in the moment afraid to say the wrong thing, but this time around creating All 4 Nothing was a fun, healing process. 

Learning to heal and work on his own mental health has led Lauv to become passionate about sharing his mental health journey and shine a light on the subject. After experiencing a very low point in life, Lauv began speaking to therapists and went to a psychiatrist to improve his mental health, and shared the importance of destigmatizing medication that can truly help people. Once Lauv learned the language to explain what he was going through, it naturally became part of his everyday conversations and it opened up the subject for other people to discuss. 

Lauv describes All 4 Nothing as coming out of loneliness and returning back to life and happiness. Lauv explains that life for him didn’t feel truly real until college (I met you when I was 18), where his main focus was a relationship he was in at the time. All 4 Nothing completely contrasts that feeling, and listeners will get to know Lauv on a completely different level. Going through the natural changes of life and learning lots of things since becoming a massive name in music, Lauv tells listeners the most important thing he’s learned is to not get lost in the sauce; life and work can start to blend together, especially for musicians who look for songs and inspiration in every aspect of their lives. Lauv now focuses less on writing in a conventional manner, instead he records his thoughts in a stream of conscious way to see what comes out of it. All 4 Nothing is a product of that approach, and it’s absolutely incredible to hear the beautiful shift in Lauv’s music. 

To support the release of the album, Lauv is heading out on the road to perform this incredible album, as well as other songs from his discography. He shared with conference goers that the song he’s most excited to play is a song called “Bad Trip”, which is his personal favorite. Overall, Lauv is excited to share his music with fans in a live setting, especially since it’s his first tour since COVID and he has two new albums to play live. If you’re a fan of Lauv, let me know in the comments which track you’re most excited to hear, and if you’re seeing Lauv on tour let me know which shows you’re going to!

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