Lukas Graham
Please note: Every ticket purchased online for Lukas Graham includes your choice of a CD or digital copy of the new album, 3 (The Purple Album), released on 10/26/2018. You'll receive instructions via email on how to redeem your album after ticket purchase.
Lukas Graham wears his heart on his sleeve at all times, so it's
entirely fitting that "7 Years," where he candidly summarizes his life,
his losses and his future hopes and dreams, would take the Danish
singer-already an acclaimed star in his home country-to the next,
stratospheric level. Released at the tail-end of 2015 and lifted from
his self-titled global debut, "7 Years" snowballed throughout 2016,
racking up over 20 million units in worldwide consumption, hitting
number one in 13 different countries, and ultimately garnering three
Grammy nominations. But Lukas Graham is far from content with such
accolades: He's restless and ready and wants to be known as an artist
that supersedes any smash he may have past or present. With his new
full-length, 3 (The Purple Album), the singer looks set to do just that.
Thirty years ago his mother gave birth to Lukas on their couch in
Christiania, an impoverished enclave of Copenhagen-a commune
established in 1971, famed for its cannabis trade and ultra-liberal
ethos. As Lukas tells it, he grew up in a progressive community that to
this day lies at odds with the rest of the Danish capital; as a teenager
hanging with his friends, strip searches and police brutality were the
norm. It's these formative, resonant experiences that Lukas explores on
the album opener "Not a Damn Thing Changed."
"I still live two blocks away from where I grew up, I still hang
out with the same guys, I still go home to visit a friend and, oh, he's
not home because he just got arrested," Lukas explains. "The song is
also a tribute to one of the guys I grew up with who hung himself in
January. He was three months older than me and we walked through life
together. He was going to be the first of our friends to turn 30."
It sounds like a bleak opener, but it's also defiant, his lyrics
underpinned with love for his community and bearing the same steely
determination he's always had to make something of himself, except now,
thanks to his international success, the goal posts have shifted: "I got
a few records to break," he sings. In truth, as much as "NADTC" sets up
a same-as-it-ever-was scenario, the song serves as a critical bridge,
because in the past few years Lukas has gone through a personal
evolution as immense as his record sales. Most notably, in 2016 he
proposed to his long-term girlfriend Rillo Schwartz (they've been
friends since they were 18), and they're now proud parents of a little
girl, Viola.
Rewind to 2013 and Lukas was in an entirely different headspace,
mired in the unexpected death of his greatest champion-his father-and
spiraling into a relentless cycle of alcohol, partying and performing,
which resulted in the temporary loss of his voice. These days he's
working out almost every day (gymnastic rings are a firm favorite), he's
30lbs lighter, and he rarely drinks. Whereas Lukas Graham saw his grief
loom large, on 3 his father appears minimally, but poignantly,
particularly on "Lullaby" (dedicated to his daughter), and "Church
Ballad" where, like a movie's climactic final scenes, Lukas details
walking down the aisle to meet Rillo at the very altar where his father
was laid to rest.
"These are very big emotions," says Lukas. "I was afraid of
making a whole album about my daughter, just like I was afraid of making
an album all about my dad. I wrote a lot of poetry and music about the
death of my grandad because writing from that feeling of grief is a
really powerful tool. But if you stay there you'll get stuck and my dad
said don't get stuck in that feeling."
Written and recorded almost entirely between September 2017 and
April the following year, Lukas spent two months in Copenhagen before
decamping to LA with Rillo and Viola to finish the record alongside the
same team as the last album-"his boys," producers Morten "Rissi"
Ristorp, Morten "Pilo" Pilegaard, songwriter Stefan Forrest and engineer
David LaBrel. Together they create a special kind of alchemy: hooks
that are easy and instantly memorable, with first single "Love Someone"
being a pitch perfect example. Over simply plucked guitar chords Lukas
wades through the vulnerability that comes with understanding the higher
the stakes, the greater the loss.
"The struggle is easier-no expectations in the struggle," admits
Lukas. "After Viola I realized I could lose this, I could lose my family
and my spouse if I'm a dick. But it's not a sad love song, it's a
positive message."
Elsewhere gospel refrains and string-laden soul ("Hold My Hand")
slot neatly next to sparkling, R&B singalongs ("Unhappy"). At the
album's center stands, "You're Not the Only One (Redemption Song)" where
Lukas turns his gaze outwards, name-checking his musical heroes Bob
Marley and John Lennon. It's a cry for unity and love in these fractious
and internationally uncertain political times. He's not claiming to
know the solution, but understands change begins at home, quoting
Chinese philosopher Confucius: "If your plan is for one year plant rice;
if your plan is for 10 years plant trees; if your plan is for 100 years
educate children."
And yet, it's when Lukas' lyrics are direct and diaristic, that
he truly excels. It's in the universality of the deeply personal that
the listener can extrapolate the complex nuances of human relations. For
instance, the aforementioned "Unhappy" picks apart the communication
breakdowns that occur between any two people trying to grow together:
"I'm trying to pick up on all the signs / Read between your lines," he
sings.
"I don't think it's a man-woman thing, it's a partnership thing,"
Lukas says. "Accepting that communication gap is sometimes one of the
most powerful things you can do. If we fight, let me be the one by your
side." Lukas continues to dig deeper still on "Everything That Isn't Me"
he comes to terms with the boy he was and the man he's becoming, while
"Promise" and "Stick Around" contends with the pressure of mounting
responsibilities and the push and pull of being a touring family man.
The latter song makes Rillo tear up every time.
Throughout, Lukas' self-assessments remain unflinching, and never
more so than on "Hold My Hand." "I'm an asshole sometimes," he says,
expanding on the theme, "You know, I'm not always the best spouse, or
dad, or son, or brother, but will you hold my hand anyway and walk with
me to the end?" Surprisingly, despite the seismic subject matter, 3
offers a melodic lightness that ensures an uplifting shoutalong almost
every time, and this was by design.
"I want people to dance," he says simply. "It's a more mature
record, definitely, but it has more life in it." And it's the life that
he's living, one shared so openly, that allows us all to feel a little
less alone.