LA-based singer-songwriter Lauren Aquilina has dropped her long-awaited new EP ‘Ghost World’, out on Friday 13th November.
A versatile, seven-track release, Lauren covers diverse musical terrain on ‘Ghost World’, beginning with the angst-ridden vibes of ‘Fuckedupminddd’ – a perfect soundtrack to the ubiquitous anxieties of 2020. Next up, the EP’s lead track ‘Latest Ghost’ sees the Bristol-born artist in a contemplative mood as she laments the one she “misses the most”, ‘Psycho’ is an ode to acting erratically, while ‘Teenage Self’ is a candid reflection on her former self.
Shortly followed by Lauren’s two most recent singles, wistful modern pop ballad, ‘Swap Places’, which is centred around the theme of insecurity, and the emotion-steeped ‘Best Friend’, inspired by a close friend ghosting her at the start of the year. Closing things out in similarly melancholic fashion, ‘Tobacco In My Sheets’ sees Lauren admitting she’s “not a smoker or a drinker but a crazy overthinker”.
“I’m beyond excited to be releasing ‘Ghost World’, my first musical project since 2016,” Lauren explains. “I didn’t expect to make an EP this summer, but after writing for other people for three years, being locked down on the other side of the world gave me an opportunity to reconnect with the artist side of my brain that I’d been neglecting. I think some of the songs on this project might surprise people, but it really feels to me like I am just beginning to come into my own as an artist and I’m really enjoying seeing the growth in my music.
She continues: “Songs like ‘Best Friend’ and ‘Tobacco In My Sheets’ are the kind of heartbreaking ballads people expect from me, but ‘Psycho’ and ‘Fuckedupminddd’ represent the angsty pop girl side that’s a part of me too. I called the EP ‘Ghost World’ because there are a lot of ghosts from my past I’m still carrying with me, and lockdown made them extra loud. When I googled it and discovered the iconic 2001 movie, I watched it and realised a lot of the themes in the movie mirrored songs on the EP, and I took it as a sign that I had found the perfect name.”
Lauren first emerged onto the scene when she released a trio of EPs – Fools, Sinners and Liars – while still at school. She then dropped Isn’t It Strange? in 2016, her acclaimed debut album that music site A Bit of Pop Music described as “a classy debut album from an extremely talented songwriter and vocalist”. More recently she has written songs for Bloodpop,Ava Max, Rina Sawayama, Olivia O’Brien and FLETCHER.
A deeply personal collection of tracks, ‘Ghost World’ is Lauren Aquilina’smost mature and complete release to date.
To find out more about Lauren Aquilina, go to:
Twitter | Instagram