Lowly, the internationally acclaimed quintet from Denmark continue to develop their creative process, embracing other peoples’ affection and letting it blend into their songwriting. The result of this journey: Keep Up The Good Work, the band’s most heartfelt work to date. To mark the announcement, they share the albums title track which you can listen to below.
Sometimes the support we need doesn’t lie in complex answers. Sometimes it can be found in the most simple encouragement. This reflection is embodied throughout their third album, Keep Up The Good Work.
This music has been forged within a maelstrom of lockdown restrictions and critical life events; often working together virtually, and eventually being together physically and writing as a group.
“We know each other really well after 8 years as friends, colleagues and collective creators. We know what we’re each going through in life, and we can hear it in the music we make together; it’s always a personal reflection of us in the given moment. You can hear that we’ve become older, that we have more to tell. During the pandemic we experienced both the joys of having children and the sorrow of losing people we cared for. Life and death struck us, you could say, which maybe seems rather banal or cliché to be writing about. But for that reason, we think this record speaks universally, and has the potential of resonating with many people.”
Lowly have been once again recording in Aarhus with producer and engineer Anders Boll, who also produced their two previous albums Hifalutin (2019) and Heba (2017). Anders has almost become the sixth member of the band, navigating five strong-willed musicians towards a kaleidoscopic and uniquely interwoven sound. It was in the studio that the band dreamt up the idea to ask their followers on social media to become a part of the album:
“We asked people to send us recordings of what they would say to the people they cared for to give encouragement or support. Our DMs were flooded with positive affirmations and personal stories about what people tell their kids, friends and loved ones. Many of them are quite simple, but also effective thoughts to meditate upon, instead of focusing on something destructive you’d otherwise bang your head against”– says singer Soffie Viemose
Many of the affirmations are audible on their first single Keep Up The Good Work. It has a warm and gentle production aesthetic, making space for the empathic theme about parenting, and its effect on the body. The chanted message of the chorus becomes the mantra we all (not just parents) need when we doubt ourselves the most; said out loud, clear and repeated, until the body and mind believes and survives from it:
Keep Up The Good Work
Keep Up The Good Work
Keep Up The Good Work
