Posted by 20 year old Irish artist Luz (pronounced ‘Luce’) released three singles last year, all recorded during lockdown. Her fourth offering ‘counting houses’ was also recorded at her Co. Offaly home studio. It’s a song about having positive influences in life. “I’m part of the LGBTQ community, so that there is always going to be underneath the songs. That perspective is always going to be something…that’s always going to be the way I tell it,” she says. “The listeners don’t have to be LGBT to listen to it,” she adds.
Luz’s music is for “anyone who feels a little bit different than what society says the norm is.” Thinking about it, she adds,“There is no ‘norm’ so everyone always feels a little bit different in some way.” In Luz’s words, it’s a “reassurance song” that encourages listeners to be themselves and not be afraid of what others may think.
Luz’s honesty comes across in her lyrics. In fact, she is incapable of writing songs she doesn’t truly relate to. “With any song I write, I actually have this massive problem of not being able to sing something that doesn’t feel true,” she says. “Every single lyric has to mean something or has to relate to my life somehow.” With her songwriting, Luz draws from her own personal experiences, but has also drawn inspiration from her friends, family and even fans’ stories.
“I feel like everything that I put out, in the moment, I really love and I really feel like it’s a good reflection of me at that time,” she says. Looking back at her first single, ‘i’m lonely’, Luz admits some of the lyrics she wrote “cringe me out” but she felt like that was the “best reflection of myself” at the time of its release.
Ed Sheeran and Sigrid are among Luz’s musical influences and they are also some of the artists who have praised her and supported her, which – to Luz – is “definitely weird”. (Dua Lipa is also a fan). Dean Lewis was one of the first artists to post Luz’s music on his social media and later asked her to support him in Dublin. It was a “surreal” experience. She is also influenced by Lauren Aquilina and Holly Humberstone.
“I’ve been very lucky that the artist community have been really accepting of me and my music. It’s really nice to feel like you’re a part of something,” Luz says. She is currently working on new music and will be supporting JP Saxe on his rescheduled European tour next year. We look forward to hearing more from the star in the making.
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‘counting house’ is out now on Platoon.
Words: Narzra Ahmed
Photo Credit: Harvey Pearson
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