Interview with Lior
The Israel-turn-Sydneysider Lior has a wonderful ability to turn the mundane of the everyday into delicious slices of saccharine sweet folk music. We caught up with on the cusp of his much anticipated sophomore studio release, Corner of an Endless Road. Considering Autumn Flow was so well received (and multi-award winning) were you anxious or intimidated about releasing a follow-up? ‘Absolutely. At the beginning I was and it was a little bit daunting because I went from doing my first album, which was really just an artistic project and I didn’t really think anyone would care, and then you’ve got to work hard to shake off the expectations and all the stuff they talk about. So I just had fun with it and went back into the headspace where I was writing songs for myself again, not for other people and not with anyone in mind. It was hard, but I got there in the end’. Were you considering your audience when writing the new album? ‘No, I think that’s dangerous. If you do that, then it starts diluting the creative process. In terms of the genre of music, I’m doing, the singer-songwriter thing. It’s kind of about honesty and sincerity. I think the only way you can do that is by writing songs for yourself, and if people connect with them, that’s great, and if not, then you’ve just got to move on’. It’s a more complex album, musically and lyrically. It’s been three years since the last studio release, so is this just the result of time? ‘It’s a mixture. In terms of the lyrical content and the emotive nature of the album, it’s a reflection of an intense two or three years where it was a bit of roller-coasting ride of highs and lows, and all the strains on personal relationships and stuff. So the record does go between light and dark. In terms of arrangement, there were things in Autumn Flow that we touched on, like the use of strings, and vocal styles that we [Lior and the producer, Franc Tetaz] never had a chance to explore due to time and money constraints. So this time we were a bit more adventurous and tried to match the musical choices with the lyrical and emotive content of the songs’.
Tagged: folk music, Israel, Lior
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