The light, the darkness, the spark, and the ugliness — everything that makes up life becomes the stardust that pieces Lauv’s second full-length album All 4 Nothing together. Just like pain and happiness are merely two sides of a coin, success and emptiness came hand in hand and haunted the artist. After a period of stagnation and frustration, he was on a quest to find his inner light. Like a Pheonix that has been reborn from flame and dust, All 4 Nothing saw the growth and expansion along with a renewed energy from this hit maker.
The past is where we find the strength. “Kid Are Born Stars,” the latest single from the upcoming All 4 Nothing album saw Lauv picking up the sparks left behind the tears as he revisited his younger self, who was confident and innocent before the world gradually diminished his light. In the song, Lauv talked about heartbreak, he reassured the child he used to be and is still with him inside that he would always be a superstar despite what happens in the outside world.
“When I started this album, I was going through a big existential crisis, questioning everything I had and why I had it. I was also struggling a lot with self confidence and wondering if I ever truly had that, where I lost it, etc.” Lauv wrote on an Instagram post the night before “Kids Are Born Star” came out. “I heard somewhere that as kids, we’re all born with this innate confidence and ability to be stars in whatever right that might be,” Lauv explained, “but along the way it’s easy to lose that as the world beats it out of us, and a lot of us forget, so I set out on a journey to find my confidence and where my ‘starpower’ came from.”
Honesty, nostalgia and inner-light are at core of All 4 Nothing. As humans, we tend to shy away from the darkness and spotlight the good, but acceptance and courage is what takes us beyond the horizon and gives us all the strength to move forward. All 4 Nothing, set to release on Aug. 5, 2022, sees the hit maker at his highest and lowest with no pretend. The title song “All 4 Nothing” talks about the depth of love, while “26” takes us to the beginning where everything began to fall apart.
The three singles collectively see a strong sense of spirituality budding in Lauv’s music. It takes us to the mysterious, always shifting soundscapes beyond the stars, yet at its foundation so connected to the ground underneath. Behind the sonics, the lyrics, and the vocals, there’s a ball of light, radiating and expanding, spreading its warmth, and that’s what makes this album uniquely fascinating.
Written by Katrina Yang
Press Q&A with Lauv
Q (Dissonance Mag ): What is the story that you’re trying to tell with All 4 Nothing?
Lauv: The overall story is me being in my mid-20s realizing that I had this big dream in my life that I chased. I have reached a certain level but I felt really empty. It’s basically me on this journey of finding inner light again and the ups and downs trying to find that after feeling out of touch with my true self. There’s the positive side to that and the less positive side that makes up the album.
Q (Honey Pop): The new album has been set in a moment of nostalgia and self empowerment. Can you talk about the journey that you went on while making the album?
Lauv: It’s a huge confident building journey for me. When I was starting the album, I just remember feeling very anxious all the time. I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t believe I deserve happiness. I was always chasing something. I think this album is the process of finding the confidence inside of me, finding the peace and gratitude and that calmness — more of a spiritual side of myself I felt before my life became complicated. Many meditation, inner child work, existential questioning, and seeking, etc, but ultimately getting to a place where I just need to be good with myself on the inside no matter what happens on the outside. I’m still working on it everyday.
Q(EnVi Media): In a recent interview, you mentioned you’ve developed a more fluid and free creating process. How has this shift impacted your music?
Lauv: To me, music making is really fun in a different way. Like now, me and my friends would just put on some instrumentals and free styling in the car, and ideas would just come out of nowhere. It makes me trust the process a little bit more. Before, I was scared to be in the moment, like what if I said something stupid or not cool. I realized like I’m going to have so many bad ideas and good ideas too.I just have to get through it all. I definitely need to find more fun in it. I was starting to get to the point of treating it too seriously.
Q(Pop Entertainment): You talked about have a balance of the light and the dark. How did you find the balance?
Lauv: It just honestly reflects my life so much. I feel like for a while, you feel ashamed of the part-2 self, and you just only want to spotlight the lighter side, but I got really exhausted of that. At this point, for better and for worse, my life is 50% singing and 50% party. These are the things I was doing to cope with and ground myself. It’s very 50-50.
Q(Beyond the Stage Magazine): You always connect with your fans through your album. You want to connect more with your fans. What are some ways you connected with your fans in terms of mental health and awareness?
Lauv: At this point I feel like everyone use the internet to openly talk about everything. There’s so many more conversations. Since the pandemic, I have become increasingly afraid of social media. I definitely feel like one of the things that has happened to me is that I’m trying to find my way back and be more interactive. I think of myself as a very interpersonal person. I love connecting with people. I want to find a way to do more guided meditation and stuff, or even just to hang out. I love guided meditation, but I’m overly self-conscious. A podcast is really sick too.
Q (Four the Speakers): Finding your inner child in relation to this album, what is this childhood memory that brings you closer to your inner child.
Lauv: The main one for me is being in my best friend’s backyard We built a skate-rear and trampoline. and just the amount of summer days just skating all day, eating popsicles jumping on the trampoline, hanging with their dogs and playing video games. I return to those memories like daily. It just feels so good.
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