Five Favourites: LibraLibra

Having just released their epic new EP, CUT, GIHE faves LibraLibra continue to impress with their utterly unique fusion of pop, electro and punk. Recent single, ‘Mother’s Ruin‘, for example, immediately hits you with the colossal, empowering grace of front woman Beth’s vocals as it builds with a swirling anthemic splendour. Reflecting on the process of healing from past traumas, its cathartic, emotion-rich power showcases the strength and determination that women are capable of – as the lyrics poignantly state, “girls who are beasts, we keep running…”

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of CUT, we caught up with LibraLibra to ask about the music that has inspired them the most. So, read about their five favourite ever albums, and check out the immense video for ‘Mother’s Ruin’ below…

BETH:

Erasure – Wonderland 
Erasure introduced me to the world of singing. My parents had a completion CD they played once in the car, and apparently after that, I was hooked. I would starting chanting “Moogies Love Love Dance” as soon as I was strapped into my car seat (‘Who Needs Love Like That’) and they would have to play the CD over and over again the entire car ride; I would be giggling and wiggling and singing along as best as a first time talker could – it had both me and my parents in a chokehold. I think Erasure, combined with New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears and Seal, were particular stand outs – as soon as I could work a CD player I would take these CDS from my parents collection and spend hours creating musical dramatics in my bedroom. Each scene was developed using particular songs from these artists, with a strong theme of triumphing over hate and pain. I would never let anyone watch – it wasn’t something I was creating to show anyone, I was insanely private, but I would spend hours on my own dancing in my room to what I thought were these profound scenes of art! I guess I was a sucker for synth led, extravagant and emotive pop.

Madonna – Ray of Light 
Madonna’s Ray of Light album was a continuation of me hiding away in my room dancing and creating make believe. I begged my parents for this album – I had started to seek out my own music, first it was Enya, All Saints, and then I heard ‘Frozen’ on Top of the Pops, and I knew I needed this album in my life. This album stuck with me for a good few years; it got me through hard times – I was bullied at a lot at school for being overweight and I loved to dance, but it was only something I could do in private. With this album I would spend hours dancing and just losing myself. I must give a lot of credit to William Orbit who produced this album, there is an essence that he added in the production and instrumentation that just tugs at my melancholic heart strings. This album fully charged my obsession with pure pop emotive drama. 

JOE: 

Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica 
I’ve been listening to a lot of dismantled dance music/leftfield electronic stuff while making this record. People like Aphex Twin and Leon Vynehall making constant appearances in my rotation. But OPN was always finding its way to the front of the queue for me. It’s hard to pick just one album but Replica might have topped it. The sound design and world he builds sonically for this album really stuck with me and inspired a lot of the production on our new EP, CUT.

GUY: 

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 
For me, one of my most inspirational albums has to be Pet Sounds. I know it’s an obvious one, but I can’t really over estimate how much this album opened my eyes to the power of arrangement. I love the harmonies and chord movements, not to mention its impact on pop music in general and everything it inspired. While this record doesn’t immediately seem like it is linked to our music, I think this was the catalyst for me starting to dive more into Brian Wilson and his inspirations which eventually led to studying Bach and other classical composer – something which definitely permeates our latest work. 

ALL 3 OF US :

Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia (compilation) 
Radiohead are a band that have had an immense impact on each of us and these influences have manifested in varying ways on CUT. It’s difficult to hone in on a specific album, as the most influential thing about Radiohead for us collectively is the freedom they have to change and grow their sound. Radiohead are a band that clearly sonically push forward with each release in an attempt to cover (or should I say discover) new ground, as opposed to latching onto a formula that works and recycling it for safety, an ethos we also share. Musically, Radiohead are a band that understand the roots of harmony and they manage to incorporate influences from classical and jazz in a way that we have also started to play with more on this record while also going to the other end of the sonic spectrum, combining these more classical elements with the extremely modern sound of microtonal electronic weirdness found in the works of artists like Aphex Twin and OneohTrix Point Never. While I’m not sure CUT really sounds anything like Radiohead, there is a similarity in the way we try to fuse similar inspirations. The re-release of Kid A & Amnesiac in the guise of KIDAMNESIAC has been on heavy rotation in the writing period for this record and exemplifies a period of their writing where they had their fingers in all of those different genre pies: classical, jazz, rock and electronic – a range of influences which also permeates CUT.

Massive thanks to LibraLibra for sharing their Five Favourites with us!

CUT, the new EP from LibraLibra, is out now. Watch the immense video for ‘Mother’s Ruin’ here: