SG Lewis has released his highly anticipated sophomore album, AudioLust & HigherLove today via Astralwerks. The epic fifteen track studio full-length features a diverse collection of classic but deeply contemporary cuts from one of the richest production talents of the last decade. Listen to the album now below.
Speaking about the album’s focus track, “Oh Laura,” SG Lewis reveals, “Oh Laura is the song on that album that is most different to any of my previous work. I wrote it with TEED, who also co-produced it at Sleeper Sounds in London, and later rewrote the verses with Ed Drewett, and it has been stuck in my head since the day we made it. It’s a fictitious tale of betrayal, and is heavily inspired by 80’s pop music.”
AudioLust & HigherLove sees the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer build on the kaleidoscopic future-disco of his debut album times, in an expansive and ambitious record made of two halves: on one end of the spectrum, he crafts the kind of nocturnal bangers that dancefloors, underground raves, pool parties, and festivals subsist on. On the other end, he accesses a higher level of timeless pop ecstasy anchored by just the right amount of breezy hook-laden rock, organic instrumentation, and vocal eloquence. He suits one mood to the adrenaline rush of your wildest night out, and he tailors another to the blissful ride home at sunrise.
“The album is clearly split into two worlds,” SG Lewis explains. “AudioLust is the darker, lusty, infatuated, short-lived, and ego-driven version of love. The second half represents a much deeper, actualized, and fulfilled version of love. Songs fall on either half of the record. I feel like I exist in the space between DJing and being an artist. The bulk of the album was written across a series of intensive studio residencies in the height of the pandemic, with the help of some incredibly talented friends, and allowed me to explore myself as an artist in a way that I would never have dared before.”
Working out of studios throughout the UK, SG Lewis collaborated with a strong cohort of friends who functioned similarly to a band, contributing live keys, bass, and guitar. Ed Drewett, TEED (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), Reuben James, Jay Moon, Frances, and Julian Bunetta comprised this creative trust.
In April, SG Lewis and his band will be performing live at Coachella Festival on both Friday, April 14 and 21. More exciting news to come.