Lalalow is a Finnish electronic pop duo formed in 2018 by two musicians, Nina Jackson (vocals and keyboard) and Tommi Laivamaa (guitar/bass).
Their latest single “Sensory Deprivation” is a hypnotic experience, narrating the feeling of isolation and not being able to use your senses to know what’s real and what’s not. These emotions instead lead you to develop feelings, thoughts, illusions and images swirling around inside your head, making it hard to decipher what’s reality.
“Because of Covid, we were spending all day in our apartment isolated from the rest of the world. When you don’t have contact with the outer world, you get locked inside your own mind and start to think about things that are not real, just like how people see hallucinations in the psychological tests when they are put in the sensory deprivation tank for a long enough time.”
A common theme throughout their music is the human mind, touching on both psychological and philosophical aspects. Jackson explains her writing originally started, “because I couldn’t express my feelings with logical sentences”.
“Sensory Deprivation” highlights the battle of expressing, regulating and understanding the mind. Lalalow confided, “there are two sides in creating your own world as even though it might drive you crazy, you get in love with your own paranoid thoughts and develop a kind of “stockholm syndrome” relationship with them and at the end of the day want to remain isolated.”
“We love creating harmonies that are not so typical. We like to surprise our audience throughout every song while keeping the song listenable and consistent inside it’s own world. Also creating improbable atmospheres is something we are interested in. We love when music gives some space for interpretation. One example of this kind song is David Bowie’s Art Decade.”
“Sensory Deprivation” is a deep dive of electro pop, alternative indie/rock and psychedelic flares, with an industrial glaze that adds a juxtaposed gritty feel. The drums are characterful, building and complex over shimmering dream pop synths, bass and backing vocals that swarm the soundscapes in euphoria and despair throughout the melodic travels. Jackson’s voice comprises smoky tones and soft high swirling melodies.
Fun Fact: “the song that we’re currently working on is inspired by paintings and a few years ago we were so obsessed with Twin Peaks that we wrote an entire song about it.”
Lalalow always strives to cease the opportunities to take listeners into other dimensions of their imagination, discovering sounds you haven’t heard before.
The duo truly believe in being a beacon of light for introverts and creating an escape from the mind through creativity.
“We also hope we can give a voice for people who are very thorough and maybe a sort of over sensitive misfits who overthink every little silly thing and then have a need to escape it and just be creative and not think that much for a while. In other words we want to express an introvert’s feelings”. They reveal
Here are a few other questions we were itching to ask the duo.
Who are your all time musical icons?
David Bowie is the most important one for sure. We also listen to a lot of modern indie like St. Vincent and Mitski. Our music doesn’t sound so much like our influences though.
What is your creative process as a duo?
The process is not linear. We write a lot of songs and then choose the best elements, put them together and change them a little bit more. The chorus of Sensory Deprivation is improvised. I came up with it when testing the mic when I was recording. I decided to change the chorus I had originally into that improvised version as there was something very interesting about it (Nina).
What inspires your lyrics?
For the most recent songs, the lyrics are usually inspired by things/concepts that we find interesting. The concept that inspired Sensory Deprivation is right in the title, and we are currently working on a song inspired by the kinds of impossible objects that Reutersvärd and Escher painted.
Who inspires your style and aesthetics?
We are fans of minimalism, but at the same time we like industrial and unpredictable concepts. We have been collaborating with talented photographers and visual artists.
What is the music scene like in northern europe and how do you fit into it?
In Finland, there is not enough audience for alternative music and that’s why the scene is quite small. We think we don’t fit in, but in Sweden for example there are more similar acts to us. Music coming from northern europe is known for its minimalist and plain sound and from melancholic lyrics, but nowadays there is so much more than that. A lot of great music is coming from northern europe.
