Lea will release her new studio album on October 4th. In the interview, the singer talks about her most emotional song and the melancholy.
The singer Lea (32) is back about a year after her last release with the album “On the Beauty and Fragility of Things”. The musician considers the fact that she gives listeners an insight into her personal feelings on her sixth record “to be something very important.” In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Lea talks about her most emotional song and why she sees it as important to accept melancholy in one’s own life. She also talks about her relationship with her sister and reveals what she is grateful to her parents for.
Your new album has the meaningful title “On the beauty and fragility of things”. What exactly is behind it?
Lea: For me the title describes my own life, but also the world as a whole and my music. Everything we perceive as beautiful, valuable and special is at the same time so fragile because it means so much to us. What we love and take good care of hurts especially when it breaks. If it didn’t mean so much to us, it wouldn’t affect us when it’s over. When it comes to beauty and fragility, transience also plays a big role because everything beautiful fades at some point. The reason it becomes so special is its impermanence: if it didn’t go away, we would get too used to it and it would lose its magic.
This time you don’t lead through the songs with a protagonist’s journey like with “Bülowstrasse”, but rather put your experiences and emotions at the center. How does it feel for you to give listeners such a deep insight into your emotional world?
Lea: I love giving listeners such a deep insight into my emotional world because I consider that to be something very important. That the music and the lyrics reach people as if they had experienced it themselves. I feel like music helps and heals and supports the processing process. It’s so nice when people see themselves in my music and it feels like they wrote it themselves. That’s very important to me and that’s why I’m so personal in my songs.
What is the most emotional song you have ever performed and what does it mean to you?
Lea: My most emotional song is my song “Elephant,” which I wrote for my parents. This is particularly close to my heart because I am grateful to them for so much in my life and I know that without them both I would not be standing on this stage and making the music that I do today. They gave me great self-confidence and love and literally showered me with love. Precisely because they gave me so much love, I have the opportunity to give love to people in my songs. My parents always gave me the feeling that I could do anything and that I was allowed to make mistakes. That I am good the way I am and that I didn’t have to try hard to get love. I used to take that for granted, but now I know that’s not the case.
On your tour you sang with, among others, Herbert Grönemeyer, with whom you recorded a song for his last album. How did the collab come about, how did you meet?
Lea: Herbert Grönemeyer asked me for his album “4630 Bochum (40 Years Edition)”. That was one of the greatest moments in my career because I’ve been a big Herbert fan since I was a child. His music shaped and influenced me throughout my childhood and youth. I think his songs and lyrics are incredibly great. Of course it’s unbelievable when a legend like Herbert Grönemeyer asks for a song together. That was truly one of the craziest moments of my life so far. He is such a great person and I admire him so much. It’s really nice to have met him now and to spend time with him. He also has his own perspectives on things that affect me in my musical career. I was able to ask him and get tips. That was a very exciting experience.
On “Edvard Munch” you sing about “that without this heaviness half of me is missing.” What is hidden behind this line? Do you romanticize melancholy in order to deal with it better?
Lea: The heaviness is just as much a part of me as the lightness. It is important to accept this severity and accept yourself as you are. It is particularly important not to see heaviness as something sad and negative, but to see that it can affect you in the same way. That art and something positive can emerge from gravity. I don’t think that I romanticize melancholy, but rather that I integrate it into my everyday life and my life and that I accept it as it is.
In “November” you talk about how “everything goes by far too quickly.” Do you feel like you’ve missed out or given up something because of your career?
Lea: I don’t feel like I’m missing out or giving up anything because of my career. But I feel like sometimes I can’t enjoy things as much as I’d like because everything happens so quickly. And that’s what “November” is all about. That the year is over again and went by so quickly. That’s probably the case for many people. My goal is to live more in the moment and be aware of the moment, to be less on my phone and more in the real world and to feel things more.
You dedicated “Thank you for being here” to your big sister. Have you always been so close, what connected you so much?
Lea: My sister and I have always been very close, she is my closest reference person, my best friend and my greatest role model. I admire her very much and her opinion is very important to me. As a little sister, I often look up to her, my big sister. We have a lot of contact and see each other often, and luckily we both live in Berlin. A life without each other is completely unimaginable for both of us.
How exactly did you choose the three guest singers Dhurata Dora, Lune and Maïa? Were you familiar with their songs or did you already know them personally?
Lea: I didn’t know Dhurata Dora, Lune and Maia personally before. But I knew their music very well and was already a big fan of their music and of them as a person. I think it’s great to work with strong, great women. The collaboration was very enriching, and it meant learning from them and developing something new together. We got along very well, had a great exchange and had a nice time in the studio. Maia even came along on my tour and we were on stage together, that was a very special moment.
Are you already thinking about album number seven?
Lea: Album number seven is definitely coming, I already have a lot of ideas and am already thinking about what the album will contain and what it will sound like. I’m really looking forward to making new music again. But now I’m really looking forward to the fact that my album “On the Beauty and Fragility of Things” is out and that I can finally share the music with people.