Charlotte Lawrence is leading the new wave of US pop. With a vocal vitality that is reminiscent of some of the biggest names in the industry, whilst remaining firmly rooted in her own individual authenticity. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has been blowing fans away since emerging in the back end of the previous decade, with her 2021 debut body of work Charlotte providing an epitomisation of the musical talent, songwriting confidence and commercial appeal of one of pop’s brightest sparks. Its delicate gaze into Lawrence’s struggles with addiction and anxiety showed incredible maturity, and rose the singer to giddy heights.
Lawrence has today returned for her first song of the year – arguably her most impressive to date. Drowsed in emotional resonance, “Bodybag” is a dazzling yet devastating cut that illustrates the soaring talent of Lawrence with a clearer lens than ever before. Produced and co-written by notorious talents Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Andy Park (Phoebe Bridgers, Mac Miller), the track is brimming with personal brevity and raw honesty; atop the subtle piano-led instrumental palette, we hear Lawrence at her most intimate and vulnerable, unafraid to express the feelings of heartbreak and pain that led her to write the song.
With a sound and aura that seems bound for monuments success, it is crystal clear that Lawrence is a superstar, edging towards the front of world dominations queue. We spoke to the songstress about her journey into music, her inspirations behind writing, and her beautiful new single.
Watch the visuals for “Bodybag”…
Read the full interview below…
How’s it going? You’ve been doing pretty well lately. How are you feeling about all the success you’ve been having?
I’m good. I’m excited. I’m really proud of this music. So everything around it that used to feel tedious, feels exciting. I have nothing to complain about. I’m really happy. And I’m really just looking forward to getting the stuff out into the world. I think the part that gets annoying is when you’re just waiting for the songs to release and just like, you know, waiting for that day to come where you could just put it out there.
Who and also what influences you and what drives you to create?
Oh, I mean, a million people. I grew up with both my parents that cannot sing a fucking lick of music. I love them to death, but they’re like, but they’re tone deaf. But my father is the most incredible writer I’ve ever known, or met, or seen, or heard, or watched in my entire life. And my mom has the most amazing music taste. So I grew up around really creative people and really great music. My mom would just only play me cool music. We would never listen to top 40, he would always play me you know, Joni Mitchell, and the Beatles, and Elliott Smith and all of my current favourites – that will forever be my favourites. Honestly my parents are my biggest influence in regards to who I want to be when I’m older, and how I want to work, and how I want to prioritse my work.
How did you personally find your way in music? You said your parents are musical, so how did that begin?
I think that the thing that came first to me was harmonising, which is so strange, but my mom has these videos of me like three or four years old in the car in the kitchen just harmonising with whatever song was on the radio – whether it was like a Josh Raiden song or Yankee Doodle – and I would always harmonise with it. I’ve worked very hard on a lot of things, I’ve read music and learned how to play the guitar, and piano, and songwriting. Then my mom put me in piano lessons when I was like five years old, with the most incredible woman named Jamie. And she was just heaven, and would make me do, I think, 40 minutes of classical training. And then the last 20 minutes, I would get to choose a song that I loved. She’d teach me how to play the piano and I’d sing along to it. It sparked my love for music.
How did you find your voice within the industry?
I would say I just recently found my voice. And like, probably in COVID too. I think that everything I’ve ever released, I will forever be proud of – it’s part of my history. I still love some of the old songs, but I think it took me a really long time to find my sound. And I don’t think that that’s anything negative. I just think that when you’re 16 or 17, whatever it is, you don’t know what you’re doing and you just want to create and create and create. Then COVID hit and I saw all of my influences written on paper, and the artists that I idolised, and I was like, ‘Why am still trying to make electronic pop music? So I made “Body Bag”, which was the first sing that I felt like I was writing exactly what I wanted to.
How would you define the essence of your sound? Or your style?
Let me see. It is a hard question because it feels just so authentic. I truly, genuinely go into the studio and whatever I’m feeling in that exact moment. Whether it’s pure joy, or heartbreak from four years ago, or whatever is in the centre of my mind – I’ll bring it out and write about it. I think as a fan of music, I always just try to stay authentic. But on a very shallow level, I would say a maybe alternative, slow rock, but still pop style. I don’t know. I think that I made so much pop music when I was younger, but some songs like “Bodybag” are piano ballads, but it still has that pop sound, you know what I mean? I think that I’ve written so many top songs that my brain gravitates towards pop melodies or a pop structure.
Some people would say that pop lacks authenticity compared to other genres. What’s your take?
The reality of pop music is it’s just popular music. You know what I mean? Look at “Driver’s Licence” by Olivia Rodrigo, and that’s a massive motherfucking pop song – but it’s just like a beautiful, really well written piano ballad. Pop music can be anything you want it to be. As a musician who wants to be able to sell out an arena, I’m so down and good with it to be called a pop artist. I’ll forever make music that feels right to me.
“Bodybag” is a great tune. How are you feeling about the release of it?
I’m so excited. It’s so weird. Any artists will tell you this, but by the time a song comes out, we’re 99 out of 100 times already so fucking sick of it. You’ve got to sing it a million times, and mix it 5000 times, and master it, and hear it, and play it for all these people. But this is the first song in my life that I’m not sick of. Every time I hear it, I just feel really proud of it, annd it has a new meaning for me every time I listen to it. I get taken back to that place of pain. But instead of hurting from it, I feel proud of it of like, ‘Oh shit, I know why I went through a bit of the shitter – I fucking made art out of it.’ I’m so proud of myself for doing that, and without having those experiences, I wouldn’t have this piece of art; I’m literally so proud of it.
What would you say is the message behind the song?
It’s a heartbreak song. But I think that there’s a lot of positivity in the heartbreak. I think that art should be interpretive for everybody, that they should be able to put their own meaning to everything – but to me, the song was written about a heartbreak and betrayal, and feeling this deep sadness. Yet knowing already amidst the pain that the love you felt, or still feel, for this person overpowers all the pain, and you’re willing to make it work and try again. As women we’re expected to be a strong ass bitch like, I’m the coolest of the cool, which I’ve felt so many times before. And I’ve written about being badass and strong before, but this song is very vulnerable. At the same time, it still makes me feel strong.
What’s next for you then? Post “Bodybag”, what are we talking?
“Bodybag” is a really good introduction to the rest of the album. I made a lot of the album with Ben Gibberd who is a member of Death Cab for Cutie, but is the most fucking incredible songwriter, producer, and human being in the entire world. I made a lot of songs with Ben and this guy, Andy, who’s so fucking incredible. They’re a great, amazing team, and he’s an incredible artist as well. Death Cab was one of my biggest influences growing up, they spoke the words of my angsty teenage years, more often than not, and I would always reference them in sessions. I finally got to work with them and it was so fucking cool for me, and it was just such like explosion of creativity and gratitude. I think that a lot of the album is very alternative. It’s very rock leaning, but with this album I really focused on the production; I’m so proud of it. I know what I can write on my own, but the beauty of collaboration is finding people that you really fucking mesh with that can add something completely different or take your words and make them better. Every single person I wrote this album with is just somebody that will be in my life forever, and I’m just so proud of it.