Sounds and Sonics: 'Dear Disorientated Soul' by LULU.

It is upsettingly rare to see a young artist making music that is wholly unique to them, as well as admirably open and honest. Hailing from south east London, British-Nigerian LULU. is achieving all the aforementioned and more. Pioneering her own twist on Afro-Soul, she recently released her debut EP, ‘Dear Disorientated Soul’.

Discussing her faith, her family, her mental health, and much else that us humans muse over, LULU. explores these ideas with poignant lyrics and serene vocals. The singles released in the build-up to the EP have caused a stir of intrigue, as listeners are introduced to her genre-blending approach. With her dream collaborators being Snoh Aalegra, Tendai, Frank Ocean and Mary J. Blige, it's clear she finds influence from a variety of sources.

She announced herself to the world with 'Save Me', before going on to show her versatility with 'Yesterdays', featuring The Joy. Over the full eight-track project, we have an undulating rise and fall of different emotions, proving a remarkably impressive listen, particularly considering it's a debut offering.

We caught up with LULU. shortly before the project’s release, to go through each song individually and take a deeper look at how 'Dear Disorientated Soul' came into existence.

TRACK 1 – It’s Aite - intro

Who do we hear speaking in the intro? What’s the story behind it?

That’s my parents! It’s mixed with Yoruba and English, there’s a few parts where they’re basically saying that I’m a star from birth, and they’re very religious so there’s a lot of religious references as well. Things like I’m heaven-sent was mentioned as well. It was just a normal day when my mum was in the kitchen and my dad was doing something in the living room and I managed to capture that on a voice note.

TRACK 2 – Save Me

Your faith is a recurring theme throughout the project, I’m wondering how big a role did your faith play making this song in particular, and the EP as a whole?

So, for context, I had left the church I had been with for a minute. Because I felt a bit trapped, and I felt like I didn’t really know myself and I didn’t understand God personally at this place. So, I grew frustrated with people, and the religion as well, but also with myself for continually getting into circumstances where I could’ve made a better decision with who I decided to associate myself with.

That song was kind of born out of frustration and helplessness, and not really feeling like I had a voice. I would say faith played a huge role. I always used to pray that God would save me from myself and stop me from getting into these situations. I think faith was in the forefront of everything with that song.

What made you decide to have this song as your first ever release?

It was the personal element, but also the execution. This was the first production that I’d heard that didn’t feel like solely Afro. I think I was trying to drift away from being like Afrobeats, especially because I wasn’t born there. Even though the culture is very much alive in my household because my parents are from there. I didn’t feel like I was an Afrobeats artist solely because there’s that slight disconnect from not being in that environment all the time.

I think I wanted a perfect blend of everything and I wanted a beat that wasn’t exclusively Afro, it had a bit of soul and a bit of rhythm but you couldn’t pin-point it and I feel like this was a nice introduction for me.

So, when you first released ‘Save Me’, what emotions were you feeling?

I think because I’d been teasing it for so long, I was just relieved. It was finally off my chest and I could start focusing on other things. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop from just releasing it, there was all the marketing as well. We had to market it for a while, but I think the first thing was just relief. Now looking back I’m just so excited to have something simple to perform and get the crowd to learn and sing with me. I have videos of that and it’s just so beautiful. I’m pretty pleased with how it went and I was just relieved when it came out.

TRACK 3 – Home

'Home’ sounds so nostalgic to me, and you can tell how personal it is straight off the bat. What does home mean to you? Where does your mind go when you think of home?

Initially it was the physical space. For context, I wrote it around the time when my parents had sold my childhood home. So, I was now leaving the place I’d known and they were moving completely outside of London. The meaning was knowing the place I’d constantly come to as my refuge and my haven would now be gone.

I felt very displaced. But I think from writing this song I realised home was not a physical place, it’s the feeling that you associate home with. And so, wherever I feel comfortable and safe, is home. I can start to build that wherever I am, and I think that starts with that self-assurance within yourself, and trusting everything that’s made for you is with you and can’t be taken away from you. So, yeah, I think home is more a feeling rather than a place.

TRACK 4 – Why Me

‘Why Me’ is interesting in that it sounds slightly different to the other songs on the project. It’s great to see you experimenting further, what are some other genres you would like to try out?

I think it will be more alternative as we get deeper into releasing things. The producer on ‘Why Me’ is a lady called ‘bad entity’, and we’ve been working quite a lot and our stuff is more alternative, and there’s a lot of electric guitars. It’s a nice balance; it’s almost rock but it’s not too far into rock.

I think people like to call that alternative R&B, because the melodies tend to be softer compared to heavy metal music. I think for me, production will probably be more left-wing, and I would like to have a little bit more live instrumentation, bringing things more to life. I listen to so much so I can’t really tell you where it’s heading. I would say I’m trying to widen the sound-scape and have people remember the littlest things in the song, in regards to production.

The ‘Why Me’ motif in the song, it’s something I’m sure we’ve all thought and said many times. In this song specifically, what meaning does it take? What are you referring to?

I think to put it simply, when things keep going wrong you ask yourself why, why is it happening to me. It’s also that feeling like it’s only happening to you, even though there’s probably thousands or billions of people it’s happening to. When we’re going through stuff, we tend to fall into that victim mindset and we kinda get stuck in that, and it becomes like ‘Why Me?’.

TRACK 5 – Free Yourself - interlude

There are varying opinions on interludes, but what role do you think an interlude, specifically this one, plays in the project? What does it bring to the table?

I think for me it’s just like a break. Because the hook is so ethereal, it’s just a moment away, to really just let loose and just chill. And I think that’s what an interlude is supposed to do. It’s meant to be a break from everything else, and I didn’t want it to do too much, I didn’t want it to say too much. I think I just wanted to exist in the project, and be the glue but not, what’s it called, not the thing in the forefront that’s got to be taken in so heavily, it’s just a moment away I would say; that’s what an interlude plays for me.

My next question is about the ‘Free Yourself’ idea, although you said it’s meant to be a break, but it's a powerful message still. When you’re saying that, are you saying it to yourself do you think? Or to your listener, or both?

The verse is kind of from the perspective of a friend of someone who’s kind of stuck in their head. And so, ‘Free Yourself’ is the friend saying like, let me in kind of thing, let me in and let go. So yeah, I wanted to have a song that expressed that dynamic but not too much. The listener can be taking it as they should free themselves, and I hope they do, that would be great. But I intended it to be the dynamic between two friends and one was kind of shutting their friend out and the other wanted to see how they were doing.

TRACK 6 – Yesterdays (feat. The Joy)

‘Yesterdays’, with The Joy, is the only collaboration on the tape. Was that a conscious decision to just have the one feature?

It was quite accidental. But the way things were heading, I think looking back it was needed, it was necessary. Actually, I had finished the song and I thought I was just coming in just to re-do some vocals, but the producers, AOD and Felix Joseph, surprised me with a verse from The Joy and I was like okay that’s unexpected but I’m actually obsessed. So yeah, I think it all came together as it should’ve.

So, did you end up getting to speak to The Joy after that? Or did you have a pre-existing relationship with them?

No, I think I’d been following their journey on social media for a while because they’re quite well-known on TikTok. I hadn’t met them when they put the verse on, the first time I met them was at my headline show for the rehearsal of it, which was last year. We met in rehearsal and it was so cute! They taught me the lyrics in their language and I taught them my lyrics in English and we got it all on video and yeah, it was a lovely moment.

I feel like that’s quite a unique way of a collaboration coming about. Do you enjoy collaborating with others, or are you an artist who prefers to work alone?

I think, the producer-artist relationship I understand the necessity. When it comes to working with other artists, or even other songwriters, it is a bit harder because my music is very vulnerable and so is the space in which I’m working, and the people in that space need to be a bit sensitive and understand the emotions that could occur in the room. So, I would say I’m not opposed to it, but I think I would be very picky and particular.

TRACK 7 – Never Done

When I was listening to ‘Never Done’ for the first time, the words that I wrote down were ‘darker, brooding, triumphant’. The others are inward and reflective, whereas this track feels a bit more outwards, looking forward and ahead. What inspired the mood and whole energy on this track?

So, I was listening to Nina Simone for like, a while, and somehow it came out, her influence came out on this song. I think I just wanted to finally give myself the pep talk that I should be giving myself. Like life can get you down man, like real bad, but I think the one thing I wanted the listener to feel was that they keep going, cause they do keep going.

We say ‘we move’, because we literally have to just keep moving! I think I wanted a song that would reflect that, but at the same time just have such meaningful messages, I didn’t wanna just say ‘we move’ you know, I wanted it to beat around the bush a little bit. I think that’s what ‘Never Done’ is.

When you’re looking to the future, what does success look like to you? Where do you hope to be?

For me, the main thing in success is me being like, not the gateway, but having enough to then give to others. I think that’s the most important thing for me, I don’t believe I’m on this earth just for myself. And so, I want to be in a comfortable position in by which I’m giving back, whether it’s through the music or in any other way.

I wanna feel like I’m able to do that without being at a loss, because I feel like as a caring person sometimes you sacrifice too much and it ends up being taken for granted, so I want to be in a position to give and it not affect me. Yeah, I think that’s success really, knowing that you’re useful for other people.

TRACK 8 – Let Go

In 'Let Go', your faith again plays an important role. I'm wondering if its something that is ever difficult to discuss in your music? As it’s so personal to you, are you ever conscious of talking about these things and so many people going onto listen to it?

Yeah, I’m overly conscious, I think. I think that’s because a lot of the time I’ve not addressed it personally and so I’m coming into rooms with people I’ve not really met before and don’t have a strong relationship with, and I’m just coming to say about how this happened and talk about this, you know what I mean? I think, yeah, for me it’s not easy but I’ve made the decision to be honest with myself, and in turn, how can you go wrong with that? If people don’t like the honesty, I don’t know…

That’s on them!

Yeah! It’s baby steps though, I’m not rushing myself but at the same time I know it’s part of the healing journey so I try my best.

Do you ever find things surprise you when they come out in your songs and you weren’t really even aware of them?

I think sometimes, but because I’m very particular with wording it starts to piece together in my head like okay, this is what I’m talking about. But I think the best songs they just come out, and I would say that when I’m writing it’s not what I’m thinking about consciously. Like yesterday I was so angry, you know what I mean, I think it’s more so what the production and melodies make out as we go along in the session, I think that’s just where it comes out naturally.

This song in particular it felt it was a lot about self-discovery. What is it about music that gives you this feeling of liberation and allows you to grow as a person? What does it do for you in that way?

I think music is… it’s something that allowed me through time to learn how to commit to something and stick with it, but also, it can be very frustrating. I think it’s something that’s given me individuality because I know there’s not someone who’s going to sing or sound like me or will have the exact same name as me and will look exactly like me.

I think with music you can play with that in so many dimensions, from the way you market yourself, to the song itself and the writing itself and there’s so much room to grow every day when you’re listening to a track that’s not released, or you’re working with someone else that you don’t usually work with.

So, I think that it's forced me to build character and perseverance and I think it provokes me to do better because there’s so many talented artists around the world releasing music every second. It’s given me drive and purpose, and I love it!

Check out 'Dear Disorientated Soul' below:

Words by Matt Sharp