BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition - November 2019

MUSiC ARTIST INTERVIEW
LOUISE
BURNS
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 7
that happens to a lot of people. I definitely
honour what I did in the past, it’s been very
good to me. But a lot of these new sounds
have come from me being more open to
embracing my pop side, especially in the
world of electronic music.”
Album number four, Portraits, feels like
a giant creative leap forward for Burns in
all respects. With its slinky rhythms, neon
synths, raw lyrical admissions and breezy
sax solos (Burns is a massive Roxy Music
fan), she has entered that mature pop
niche, alongside artists like Christine and
the Queens, Shura and Carly Rae Jepsen
that she always seemed destined for. A big
part of this process was letting down her
guard and exploring her emotions through
lyrics.
“This record I did focus more on my
lyrics, which I think is a huge part of pop
music right now,” Burns admits. “As a
non-emotional person, I found it to be a
pretty crazy exercise to actually explore
that side of my writing, rather than just hide
behind a wall of reverb, lots of guitars or
crazy drums. I was just trying to put myself
into this position of, almost discomfort, so I
could try and grow.”
One way in which she found the courage
to do this was in returning to the city where
it all started for her: Los Angeles, where
she lived during the Lillix years.
“A lot of it was closure for me,” she
explains. “There have been some weird
wounds I’ve had since that time, which goes
with being a teenager I think. Everyone has
their shit that they hold on to throughout
their adulthood. But for me a lot of the insecurities
and neuroses were really put under
a microscope in LA when I was a teenager
and I still had the same perspective in a lot
of ways ever since. So I figured I’d go back
to that city where I began my career and
make amends with it, to see if I could move
forward and have a healthy relationship
with my past instead of trying to hide it or
be so self-deprecating.”
It was also there in Los Angeles where
Burns connected with producer Damian
Taylor (Arcade Fire, Björk), who previously
worked on her 2017 album, Young Mopes.
This time, however, Burns invited Taylor
into her songwriting process, another first
for her.
“Damian is amazing. I call him my guru,”
she says avidly. “He knows how to push
me and get the best work out of me. The
way we talk about music, I just always learn
from him. I’m so lucky that this was my first
real collaborative experience because he
paved the way for it to be a positive thing
for me. This record wouldn’t have existed
if it weren’t for him. I feel like with him, I put
more work into my songwriting, getting the
sounds I wanted, and deciding what I want
to do as an artist.” ,
8 BEATROUTE NOVEMBER 2019