Laura Crowe & Him: The creative process behind our EP "Our Chemical Soul"

The Brussels-based duo Laura Crowe & Him shared with us the story behind writing the songs of their EP "Our Chemical Soul". Check it out and press the PLAY button!

By Chris RoditisMusicngear Lead Editor

Article photo - Laura Crowe & Him: The creative process behind our EP

On this EP, “Push Me” is probably the song we’ve worked the most on as far as creative process is concerned. We wrote the very first version something like a year ago. Originally there was a more “drum’n’bass” feeling to it and the vocal line of the chorus was also completely different. At some point, we felt we had a potentially strong track but that something was still missing. We kept what we liked the most on the oldest version and started a new one almost from scratch. Our idea with this song was to do something daring and we wanted to experiment a lot with sound textures, vocal lines but most of all interpretation. A week and a half later, we came up with the EP version of “Push Me”. The analog keyboards we used and the retro-nostalgic mood were influenced by the soundtrack of tv show “Stranger Things”. The ethereal and majestic music of American pop R&B artist “BANKS” was also a major source of inspiration for this song. The dark atmosphere of the song inspired us to write about the little voices which haunt us at night while trying to fall asleep. Are they friends or enemies? Or do they somehow contribute to make us move forward and ask ourselves the right questions?

“Why do bad things catch up with us?” In other words: why is karma such a bitch?

« My Chemical Soul » is the very first song we wrote and released as « Laura Crowe & Him ». It’s first and foremost a turning point in our project because it marks a clear shift towards a more electronic identity in our music. That’s why “My Chemical Soul” has and will always have a sentimental value to us. Unlike “Push Me”, this song was written and recorded quite quickly.

We were actually busy working on another track when we came across a “ringing bells” sound which caught our attention. It instantly inspired us to make a song out of it. We can say that “My Chemical Soul” is born from “the sound of ringing bells”. The other sound textures, the synths, the catchy dark bass came along naturally. After already two days, we had a first version we were already really happy with. After having listened to it several times, Eric suggested we should try to change the verse a bit and sing it in a slightly different way, with more twitches and flow. The result was unquestionably more original. It gave the verse a really cool and unexpected vibe. We wanted this song to be about the complex and paradoxical nature of love. We felt that this theme perfectly matched the sensuality expressed through the music. “My Chemical Soul” is the first single we released as a prelude to our new EP. We shot a music video (available on our Youtube channel) with Lola Hislaire, a promising Belgian director. She perfectly understood the meaning of the song and beautifully transcribed it through contemporary choreographies. With her artistic vision she also helped bring our freshly image as a duo to light.

 

« Why Oh Why? » is the third song of our EP and it revolves around the following question: “Why do bad things catch up with us?” In other words: why is karma such a bitch? We actually came up with this thematic idea while trying to find a vocal line for this song. We decided to write about an unlikely and impossible love story (-a kind of contemporary version of “Romeo and Juliet” as far as that part is concerned-) between two teenagers with totally different backgrounds: Jimmy who’s a boy from the street with a lot of personal issues and “Maddy” a naïve girl, from a good family, who’s growing tired of her “perfect” little life. “Why Oh Why?” is actually the second track we wrote right after recording “My Chemical Soul”. We started building up the song around a church choir we did with several layers of our own two voices. It had this “Gangsta’s Paradise” vibe to it that we truly loved. It’s actually where it all started. For the production of this song, we were inspired by artists such as Melanie Martinez as well as Twenty One Pilots, especially for the rhythmic parts.


Check out Laura Crowe & Him at their official website, like them on Youtube and Facebook and support them on Bandcamp

About Chris Roditis

Chris Roditis has been an active musician since 1995 in various bands and projects across a variety of genres ranging from acoustic, electronic to nu metal, british rock and trip hop. He has extensive experience as a mixing engineer and producer and has built recording studios for most of the projects he has been involved with. His passion for music steered his entrepreneurial skills into founding MusicNGear in 2012.

Contact Chris Roditis at chrisroditis@kinkl.com

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