Drown, Yeah by Liv Lapaz
You can hear on first listen that “Drown, Yeah” is not a usual album. Written and recorded with only a cheap acoustic guitar, it is constantly fighting with its self-imposed restrictions, winning over them with wit and creativity, and sometimes also being defeated by them.
While living in Beijing from 2011 to 2012 I had no access to my musical equipment. The only instrument I had was “Li-Li”, a 50 dollar chinese brand acoustic guitar. When I started writing the first songs, I did not even own a laptop, so I just recorded them with an iPhone, adding layer upon layer of sound with Li-Li.
And somehow these iPhone-recordings sounded strangely enchanting! Totally indifferent to sound and surface, purely “song”. I decided to regard the restrictions as the conceptual framework for the album and from then on did not allow any other sound-source than whatever I could do with Li-Li: picking, plucking, strumming, bowing, scratching, hitting,... 5 months later, “Drown, Yeah” was finished, finally with a laptop, an old microphone, some freeware software... but still only with Li-Li.
While “Drown, Yeah” is calm, reduced and low-fi, it is obviously not a typical “one-man-and-his-guitar-folk-record”. I did not listen to any music during my whole 1-year stay in Beijing, so I can not really say, what my musical influences were. But people have stated they can hear Young Marble Giants, Mark Hollis’ solo work, Jeff Buckley, Sufjan Stevens and even Trent Reznor's calm moments. I still think "Drown, Yeah" somehow has a sound of its own.
Some people even called it a concept album. Not only because of the sonic concept. But also for the recurring lyrical theme of “Drowning”. The silent underwater-scream. Speechlessness? Final redemption? Hope? No hope? I leave that up to you...
Tracklist
| 1. | Teenage Europe | 3:01 |
| 2. | Beirut | 2:54 |
| 3. | Melancholia | 3:33 |
| 4. | The Chosen One | 3:34 |
| 5. | I'm Unborn | 1:35 |
| 6. | Mermaid | 3:15 |
| 7. | Chalk and Fingernails | 1:47 |
| 8. | Dear Search-Engine | 2:47 |
| 9. | Lady Lemonade | 3:34 |
| 10. | Das Kind und der See | 3:59 |
| 11. | The Deep | 2:51 |
Credits
All songs written and composed by Liv Lapaz
Production: Liv Lapaz
Mastering: Martin Rawlins
Recorded in May 2012 at Taiyue Hotel in Beijing, China
