Birkenhead born Lois Levin has been writing since the age of 10 and picked up a guitar at 14 and started doing gigs locally across Merseyside, she also did one gig in Brixton where she got her first manager at the age of 17. When she first began writing she felt she was influenced by early indie-rock bands, and has done covers of 'The Beatles' but has since been influenced by the likes of Paolo Nutini, Ella Fitzgerald, 'The Stone Roses', 'T Rex', Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin and Sade. She feels like now she has really found a sound and style that feels right to her. Growing up on Motown, swing, and the obvious early noughties pop, she feels like her sound is a combination of a lot of different genres.
Things started to happen for Lois after a chance meeting with Liverpool-based producer Jon Withnall. Trading demos and ideas during lockdown, the two later entered the studio to lay down a few tracks. Jon, who has previously worked with Rhianna and 'Coldplay', sat down with Lois to discuss similar interests in music and after a few months of writing together, Lois found herself with her first singles.There is a mystifying allure to Lois' voice, a tantalizing quality that’s hard to put your finger on. But it's there, with its seductive essence, both irresistible and intriguing. In 2022 the singer-songwriter released 'You Don’t Make Me Feel Good Anymore', a soulful, jazz-laced ode about fading passion, about her experiences of heartbreak, love, and loss through an electronic swing of jazz and modern contemporary pop. This followed on the heels of her 2021 debut single, 'Burden', which received praise from Jazz FM, BBC 6Music, BBC Introducing, and BBC London, along with features in elite outlets. With a Courtney Barnett-esque style of blunt lyricism that captures the reality of a situation, Lois says that she wrote the track at the tender age of 15 whilst "a bit pissed off at growing up with an alcoholic parent who constantly let me down". The raw quality of the single makes the track feel like the listener is reading a very personal diary entry from the artist. Her witty lyricism and soothing melodies that are scored underneath are reminiscent of a sweet R&B haze, something that she locks into deeply. Her sound blends elements of soul, pop, and jazz into delicious, evocative music tinted with a residue of sadness, perhaps the corollary of growing up with an absent mother due to alcoholism and the looming prospect of losing her father to the same poison. With a voice that will capture all who hear her breathtaking sound, drawing on her past, Lois has an unrivalled ability to evoke much of her past emotions into her music.
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| In 2021 |
Lois has since become one of the bright lights on Liverpool’s Baltic Jazz Label, the current home of garlanded producer Steve Levine. Steve helmed Lois' 2023 four track EP, 'Revisioned'. The mini album opens with a laid back mid-tempo groove, 'Burden', a very personal song, all about Lois' relationship with her alcoholic father. 'LaLa (I Don’t Wanna Talk About It)' is a gentle affair too. Inspired by Frank Ocea and Prince, it deals with peoples' inability to talk about their emotions. Different again is one of the mini album's key cuts, 'Pheromones', a tight, soulful dance groove about self-love which Lois described as her "own personal anthem of saying fxxx it!" However, if you feel you need more self-love, you'll be delighted to learn that Steve and the Baltic Jazz team have just launched a remix of 'Pheromones'. The mix team on the track is 'Searchlight' which features two successful Irish drum and bass artists, Zero T and Beta 2 who were mentored by Goldie for his boutique Fallen Tree 1Hundred label. For the new 'Pheromones', Searchlight decided to use the vocals from the original track and build a whole new song around it. While the original track has a classic, trad-soul sound to it, with horn sections and Hammond organ, the remix uses synthesisers and broken beats to turn it into a dance floor groover.
At the end of 2023 she wrote on her Facebook page, "Overwhelmed by all the support I've received this year that I just wanted to share how grateful I am before the year ends. Thank you to everyone who has listened to my songs, played it on the radio and even came to see me live. As I get in full Christmas mince pie mode, I’ll still be writing as I hit 2024 early doors with studio time to work on even more songs so here’s to 2023 and all its amazingness but to a proper boss 2024". For Lois, 2024 looks like a busy year, as she put on Facebook for the February 2024 gig, "How gorgeous is it to see me on Jazz FM's A List!! Quite literally, look at me!! Always grateful, overwhelmed and super thankful for all the support and love on & off the airwaves.
The on the 3rd of June at Pizza Express Live - The Pheasantry, Chelsea. Followed by the comment, "I'll be playing Weyfest Music Festival this August! Get ya tickets and I’ll see ya in Surrey oi oi."
see also :-http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/06/pool-of-sound-paige-tomlinson.html
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