It has taken four years for English-born and French-raised Lauren Auder to make, what is now, 11 songs—each one more enrapturing than the previous. While it is a small body of work considering the timespan, it’s easy to forget Auder is still incredibly young—just 21. In Auder’s case, age is merely a facade, masking the intelligent and poetic complexities of her artistry. Auder’s age deceives listeners with jaw-dropping maturity behind her words, and the art-pop futurist has never been more clear with both her style and identity than with her newest single “Quiet”.
With Danny L. Harle producing and Auder commandingly placating the stage with her warm baritone voice, it was admittedly difficult to envision how she’d shine on paper, competing with Harle’s big and boisterous PC Music-styled production. But these doubts are quickly put to bed as Harle cedes to Auder’s presence without compromising his world-building capabilities. Though usually a cacophonous noise-maker, Harle helps realize “Quiet” to beautifully hushed extremes, more magnificent and immersive than anything he’s lent his talents to.
Exhaling with an ethereal breath that’ll remind many of Scott Walker, Auder similarly accentuates every genre-bending layer of this track by imbuing it with heady lyrics that’ll make almost anyone sit and listen with unflinching attention. She sings on “Quiet”, “so now we must face love / For now we must makе the rules / So whatevеr’s left plunging through your spine is / Where I’ll nail…” While “Quiet” is an understated ballad, it’s probably Auder’s loudest statement piece yet, revealing on her Instagram:
“[Quiet] is the first track in a series of songs that are significant in two ways. They are the first songs I wrote since coming out as a trans woman publicly. Therefore they address this in ways i tended to mystify in the past, specifically the difficulty of intimate human interaction and the disappointments you inevitably bring about when you are incapable of being/being seen as yourself. Secondly, these songs called for an opening up in my songwriting process. [I am] Allowing myself to work in more varied and collaborative ways that I had only explored with my closest friends in the past.
Quiet is out now via True Panther Records/Harvest Records and can be experienced above. Don’t forget to follow Lauren Auder and her inevitable rise to stardom on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
