After a couple of years away Lemar is back with his new album Invincible and single The First Time as he strikes out on his own label.
We caught up with Lemar to chat about the new album, being totally in control of his music and what lies ahead.
- You are about to releases your new single The First Time so what can we expect from the new track?
The new track is just an uplifting and up-tempo song about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. The romantic side to it is for the first time feeling that you are with someone where everything feels right and everything is going well.
But there is also an overtone of facing the unknown in life and just embracing it, moving forward and being who you are.
- This is also the second track off your new album Invincible so how does this track introduce us to the rest of the record?
It is the first track on the album as well so I do think that it is a good intro. The album in general does have these uplifting moments throughout it so I do think that if people like this song then they will be feeling the rest of the album as well.
- So how have you found the response to the track and the new album so far?
In general it has been really good. It has been three years sine I have released anything so it is nice just to get my feet wet again on the circuit and doing a handful of gigs and getting back on the radio and so on.
So getting back on stage has been a nice break from writing and the reception has been good so far.
So fingers crossed when the album comes out people will get behind it and give it a listen -hopefully it will resonate with the people.
- This is your sixth studio album so how does this album differ to what you have released before? And how have you seen yourself develop as an artist?
I definitely think that on a writing level I have progressed as an artist. On stage I am always learning but I do think that stage is my strong point and I think that is what most people who have been to my tours celebrate most about me - I love being on stage and performing.
On an album level I think that the lyrics are a little deeper. There are uplifting moments but there are also more heartbreaking moments but I think lyrically the way they are delivered is slightly different as they are more layered and in depth.
I have taken the reigns a little more on this album as well, I have produced quite a lot of stuff on the album; but I have also been able to work with some really cool friends/producers. So I think sonically it is very very personal to me.
- And the album will be the first thing that you have released off your own label so how exciting a prospect is that for you?
It was exciting, scary and good all at the same time. I wanted to start at the core and make good music and I feel that I have done that and put together an album. And after I did that I was like ‘well what is the quickest and most straightforward way to get it out?’ And this was it.
I thought that it was a cool challenge and a welcome challenge and I know quite a few team players and so I brought them all on board. I have partnered up with EMI as well and they are helping me getting it out there.
So it is nice to stand shoulder to shoulder as opposed to one rung down on the ladder and make the decisions both creatively and about the whole strategy. So it is turning out to be a load of fun.
- So why did you decide that now was the best time to leave a major label and strike out on your own?
I was with Sony for the best part of eight years and it was a five album deal and I released all of those so it was of do I resign? Do I sign somewhere else? Or do I take a chance and do my own thing?
And I decided on the latter because once you have the music ready and the right people in place then there is no real difference.
So I decided to do it this way and maintain most of the stuff and the creativity element and get the expertise from a major label like EMI - they are there guiding me and pointing me in the right direction.
- How great has it been having that creative freedom and what impact to do feel that has had on the development of your music?
It has been great having that freedom I must say - like I said at time it was nerve-wracking but overall it has been an absolutely amazing experience.
I have been able to take a longer on the writing and get the songs exactly how I would like them and it has also made everything much more personal.
Musically it is a very personal album and I hope that that there’s a few people in relationships or just coming out of relationships that will listen to that and think ‘it is coming from a very honest place and it resonates with me.’
- As you say you haven't released an album since 2010 so what have you been up to in that time?
I have been living a bit of life (laughs). I have been doing some sun-seeking so I have been in LA quite a lot as well as bit of time in Miami before going on to Sweden, Denmark, South of France and London.
So I have just been going around and visiting mates and writing songs and chilling with the family.
- I was reading that you had been out in LA doing some recording so how did you find that experience?
It was great. Over the years I have recording in LA quite a lot - on most of my albums expect the first I have recorded a handful of songs in America.
So I have really got a bit of attachment with LA as I have got some friends there now so any time I can I go out there and write some songs and chill by the beach. Why not?
- And you have penned the tracks for the album and you have spent longer putting the new record together than perhaps you would have done in the past so how important was it to be able to have that time?
I think it was very important because after eight years and releasing five albums - so it was an album every year or every other year - and when I wasn’t releasing an album I was touring so you get a little bit burnt out.
When you have written so many songs as well in order to get to the next stage and regurgitate songs I needed that time to slow down a bit and get back to the core of it - which is the song and trying to get the best song that I can.
- So what are your major influences when it comes to penning the tracks and how have those influences changed over the years?
I think the influences have changed naturally - it is the same influence but because I have growing as an individual it changes.
I draw influence from myself, my life an how I am feeling but also I have a handful of friends around me that I interact with and I might take a bit of their story as well and slip it into mine and relate it to how I am feeling.
I think naturally as I have been progressing I have got more life experience I have met more people, travelled to more places and got more friends in different part of the world - they have different kinds of stories as well. Because I am always drawing on those influences the writing develops with that.
- So what do you hope this album says about you as an artist?
I hope it just reinforces my journey so far and I hope it reinforces what I set out to do in the same place - which is as an artist to continually grow.
When I started I said that I wanted twenty years in the business and I am half way there as this is tenth year going onto the eleventh.
So I just hope people listen and think ‘on a song-writing level this is great and on a vocal level he is great and I want to see him on tour so we can celebrate his songs’. Hopefully along the way I will also be able to help a few other artists.
- Well you have slightly touched on my next question really now that you do have you own label is it purely for releasing your own music or are you looking to take on other artists or bands?
I would love to. You have got to start somewhere and this is the beginning and I am not sure where this is going to take me but I love being creative and I love helping other people in the studio, writing level, on a performance level.
On my current album there is a duet with a guy who I think is a great song-writer and I just said ‘I like the song and hopefully it gives people a bit of an insight to you and your sound. So jump on the track with me and let’s see if people take notice of you and your talent’.
He is not signed to me or anything but I just thought that he was a good talent. And that is what about the next up and coming talent or artist and helping other people along their journey.
- You have spent ten years in the music industry so how odes the industry compare today to what it was like ten years ago?
It is very different and I think that it is funny how a couple of years changes a lot of things. It is different in a good way in that the internet has played a massive way in the way people listen to music and consume music and value music - it has changed quite a lot.
It is good that a lot of people have a lot of choice you can’t blag it and if it’s good people will think its good an if it’s bad people will think it’s bad and people can say that it is bad as everyone has a voice now.
It’s not just what you read in the paper or what you read in the news as you can listen to something live and comment on it immediately and people get their buzz of what other people are saying. It is always developing and it is going to end up somewhere but I don’t know where that is.
- Finally what's coming up for you for the rest of the year?
The album is being released on October 8th and the single and then I am looking to announce some live dates hopefully in November.
It will be a handful of shows to get my feet wet again on the stage and then next year I will do my proper tour. And in between all that I will be doing a lot of writing as well and I will be looking to see if I can help a few other people along the way.
Lemar's new album Invincible and single The First Time is released 8th October
Click here to pre-order the album Invincible
Click here to pre-order the single The First Time
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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