Charlotte Lawrence has released her new single ‘Slow Motion’, as well as revealing that work is now complete on her debut album and teasing that she may work with Yungblud again.
The US singer-songwriter has amassed millions of streams in recent years, most successfully with the single ‘Why Do You Love Me’ and ‘The Joke’s On You’ from the Birds Of Prey soundtrack. Now, she’s back with ‘Slow Motion’ – written by Lawrence alongside Andrew Watt, Jason Evigan and Ali Tamposi and complete with a music video filmed during lockdown.
“The song is special to me,” she told NME. “I consider it a sad song. The lyrics are about being done with a relationship – whether that’s a romantic relationship, a friendship – and you’re just ready for it to be over. You know it’s the right thing to do, but you’re going to be taking a while to get over it.”
She continued: “In my heart, I’m a person who leans towards sad songs. That’s the music I’m obsessed with, but I’m also someone who loves to dance and to be able to move to a song. I’m always split between the two. I wrote this song on the piano and wanted to keep that sad feeling attached, but also to be able to smile and move to it.”
After revealing that she had coronavirus back in March in a bid to encourage her fans to self-isolate, Lawrence then spent the rest of lockdown completing work on her debut album – expected later this year.
“I’m so fucking bored now, but it’s honestly been very productive,” she said. “I’ve done more work on shit that I wouldn’t think to work on in quarantine. I’ve finished so many unfinished songs and fully finished the album. Now it’s like, ‘Now what? I’ve done everything else’. Time to pick up some hobbies, I guess. Maybe I’ll become a rapper.”
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Speaking of the themes of the record, Lawrence said that the songs followed the same “honest and authentic” thread of what she’s released so far – using her music as a “therapeutic outlet”.
“‘Why Do You Love Me’ was fun because if you strip it down, it’s dark as fuck and really angry but you can still dance to it,” she said. “‘God Must Be Doing Cocaine’ is a very opinionated, aggressive and doesn’t hold back and is one of my favourite things I’ve ever written, but it all links back to how I use writing as an outlet as a therapeutic outlet. It’s impossible for me not to write about what I’ve been through.”
She went on: “My single ‘Keep Me Up’ dealt with an anxiety, which I’ve had since I was little. I feel like everyone experiences it, one way or another, at some level – whether it’s being in a crowd, individual instances or a reoccurring thing that keeps having an impact. It’s more of a commonly used word and feeling nowadays that people that gaslight it, demean it, or make you feel like it’s not real.
“I’m someone who can get anxious about nothing. I can just wake up and feel the physical aspects of it with my heart beating fast, my mouth being dry, my throat feeling tight, and I just feel physically in pain and won’t know why. One day I was just like, ‘I’m not crazy, this is a real thing that I really feel, it’s completely valid and OK’. I just wanted to speak to my experience and relate to other people to make them feel more comfortable.”
Asked if any new material would follow a similar vein to ‘Joke’s On You’, Lawrence replied: “That was so fun, angsty and just said, ‘I’m a bad ass bitch and you can’t mess with me’. That’s how I feel and hope everyone else feels. That song fits with my vibe, aesthetic and story.”
The singer also reached a new audience when she featured on Yungblud’s ‘Falling Skies’. Remaining tight-lipped about if he would be on her album, she did reveal that could collaborate together again.
“He’s the fucking best,” she told NME. “His first LA show was a little showcase for his label at the Viper Room in LA. I was there and we became friends immediately. He’s so cool, such an interesting writer and so amazing to work with. Maybe we’ll work together again. Who knows?”
‘Slow Motion’ by Charlotte Lawrence is out now.