- Words Aimee Phillips
Made up of best friends Hanna and Andrea, lennixx are the Swedish duo creating instantly likeable R&B.
Living in Sweden, lennixx may not have been in lockdown like the rest of the world, but they have been busy releasing new music. Two new songs, in fact. Released a fortnight apart, “Bold Me” and “Empty Room” are lennixx’s first releases of 2020, and they hit the sweet spot between powerful pop and minimal melodies.
On “Bold Me”, a soft, smooth harmony gives way to glitchy production whilst comparatively, “Empty Room” is more delicate from the offset. The releases just stand to prove how musically malleable lennixx can be.
It’s this approach that has been garnering them attention. Having racked up more than 1.7 million streams on their songs, lennixx also performed a sold-out gig supporting Zara Larsson last May in London.
It’s clear to see that the pair are totally in sync. Having first met at dance school, Hanna and Andrea have been joined at the hip ever since, and it’s an energy that’s clear in the music they make.
It’s been a year since their last release, the EP ‘Split By’, and in that time, they have been through a lot and worked on themselves, to the point where they’re regarding this new offering as a fresh start – both as individuals and as lennixx.
With “Bold Me” and “Empty Room” signalling a turning point for the ensemble, we chat with them to find out exactly what’s next.
When you’re making music, do you go to the studio when you have an idea ready to record, or are you open to changing things throughout the process?
We mainly start our ideas in the studio with a producer but sometimes we’ve prepared some lyrics, a theme or melody that we want to use and create from. We usually don’t come into the studio with a finished song, we like to create after a feeling or mood that we have that day. For that reason, we’re always open to changing things in the song, which is something we’ve gotten better at, and not immediately falling in love with the first demos of the song. Sometimes it takes days to see what can be better when you listen through it a couple of times and evolve your first ideas.
Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?
We are inspired by a lot of different artists, but the artist we take the most inspiration from is SZA, we love her style of songwriting of both her lyrics and melodies. We also love SiR’s latest album where it’s not all too uptempo but still has a vibe to it, and Billie Eilish is cool for doing what she wants and pushing boundaries more with her music and lyrics. Then there are also a lot of up and coming UK artists listen to, we love the whole scene there.
After signing to Verdigris, you spent time in London. What effect did that have on your sound?
We have always heard that our music would be great for the UK scene and after meeting Verdigris we really felt that our style was appreciated and encouraged there. Although we don’t feel like our sound has changed after being in London, we feel that working with a lot of talented musicians/producers really helped perfect it and build on what we had. There are so many amazing people to work with in the UK and we would love to come back soon when we’re allowed to travel, we feel that there are more people making the style of music we love there than in Sweden.
You recently released two tracks, “Bold Me” and “Empty Room”. What made these two songs stand out to you? Why were they the ones you chose to release?
We immediately fell in love with these two songs after we wrote them and really felt that they stood out from our earlier work. We feel like they show another side of us, a side that we wanted to share so we decided to release them first as an introduction to our new side. We also think they fit so well together and felt that it’s always fun to release more music than only one song.
When you go around your day-to-day life are you always aware of how you are processing emotions or experiencing situations, from a creative songwriting perspective?
Yes, of course! That’s one of the first things we realized when we started writing our own songs, which is a blessing and a curse since you’re always so connected, personal and emotional about your songwriting but never really able to shut it off. That goes for the whole artistry, always on the lookout for something we can use creatively. For example stylists on Instagram, locations for pictures and music videos wherever you go and so on.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
An overall best thing in our career is that we’ve always stuck to what we believe in, what feels right and trusted our gut. We longed for a time where we got to write our own music and got to do what we love, and now that we’re here and able to do that we feel like it’s a big accomplishment and we really appreciate it.
If your music were a flavour, which would it be?
Red wine 😉
What advice would you give to artists starting out?
The best advice we can give is to have patience because things don’t always turn out the way you expect. Your time will come if you keep up your ambition and stick to what you believe in. It’s only you presenting your music so it’s important to do what feels right for yourself and not listen to people just because of their position or experience. Every big artist is unique because of it.
What or where is your ‘happy place’?
Spending time outdoors and with the people we love is the recipe that usually makes us happier and calm, even better with animals around.
What’s next for lennixx?
We are writing new music and finalizing for a potential first album. First we want to release some more singles and create visuals for them. And eventually perform again, something we miss a lot!