Laurel - PALPITATIONS (DELUXE) (2024)

An English singer, songwriter, and producer, LAUREL is known for her sparkling, soulful alt-pop. Doubling down on the spacy production style of her first official single, 2014's "Fire Breather," her full-length debut, DOGVIOLET, followed in 2018. She teamed up with Chrome Sparks to produce synthy songs including 2020's "Best I Ever Had" (from that year's PETROL BLOOM EP) and the next year's "You're the One" (from LIMBO CHERRY). Incorporating light brushstrokes of '80s pop and sophisti-pop, she kicked off 2023 with "Change," which appeared on the full-length Palpitations the following year.

Raised near Southampton and based in London, Laurel Arnell-Cullen let it be known she wanted to be a singer at the age of five. Inspired by hearing Laura Marling at 13, she got a Spanish guitar and started learning how to play folk. She had already been writing songs, and booked local gigs with her own material as soon as a year later. Following high school, she studied business and music performance in Portsmouth for two years, during which time she started posting her songs online. In early 2013, she uploaded the home-recorded electro-pop demo "Blue Blood," which was discovered and shared by various music blogs. She then relocated to London, signed with a management company, and released her official debut single, "Fire Breather," on her own label, Next Time Records, in early 2014. The three-track EP To the Hills followed a few months later, and another EP, Holy Water, was issued in December 2014. The mixtape Allelopathy appeared in 2015, and LAUREL signed with Counter Records for the EP Park, released in late 2016.

Having developed a more sophisticated sound by then, one that incorporated electric guitar, live drums, keyboards, and production touches tending toward the dramatic, her debut LP, DOGVIOLET, arrived on Counter Records in August 2018. Following another label move, this time to Communion Group, she delivered the glossier PETROL BLOOM EP in late 2020. It included a song co-written and produced by Chrome Sparks (Jeremy Malvin). The following April, LAUREL self-released another Chrome Sparks-produced track, "You're the One," which was included on the 2021 EP LIMBO CHERRY. She was among a guest list that included the likes of Damon Albarn and Caroline Polachek on Flume's 2022 album Palaces before releasing the breakup-themed single "Change" in partnership with IMPERIAL in April 2023. It embraced a smooth, lite jazz-funk suggestive of '80s sophisti-pop. Steeped in dynamic synths, taut drum machines and fluid bass lines, LAUREL's new sound was pop-friendly without resorting to era cosplay or sacrificing her knack for smart melodies and lyrics. The collaboration with Chrome Sparks, as well as team-ups with writer/producer Kyle Shearer (Carly Rae Jepsen, Dua Lipa, Rina Sawayama), bore further fruit on her sophomore album, 2024's Palpitations. ~ Marcy Donelson