27/09/23
At the start of the year, we were approached by the Lyceum Young Company to collaborate on their new production The Multiverse Is Gay! by Lewis Hetherington.
While the piece is a coming-of-age story about finding yourself over and over again, it is set against the backdrop of time travelling through alternative Universes so, sonically, there was scope to explore different territories.
We wanted to challenge ourselves to create a lo-fi track (a bit Rex Orange County) without notable structural or dynamic shifts that could underpin the establishing scenes – before we leave the ‘real world’ and enter the Multiverse. We usually sketch and build tracks using drums and vocals first, so it was a nice change to work with an acoustic guitar and synth to create something light and cyclical that became Friends in the Garden. It was a good lesson in trusting our instinct and being selective with sounds to avoid the track becoming unnecessarily muddy.
One of our favourite tracks to write for the project was Glamber. The brief was pretty simple… ‘we need a tune for a 6ft drag queen to sing in a cabaret bar’. We’re really into the disco influence in some recent pop releases (big fans of Jessie Ware’s ‘That! Feels Good!’) and wanted to channel something similar. We were inspired by the structure of huge diva tracks (I Am What I Am, One Night Only, I Will Survive…) where a seemingly slow, pensive ballad becomes a dance banger. It was a silly couple of days in the studio and, luckily, the cast member whose job was to lip sync and vogue their way through the track, loved it!
When it comes to bringing a piece of new writing to life, it’s great to be part of a creative team who are receptive to every department’s ideas. We definitely found that within this team and had a brilliant time working with the Lyceum Young Company
You can listen to the entire Multiverse Is Gay! album here.
Lauren & Audrey x
