"My first motivator behind this record was the idea of refining and simplifing my creative process. No more spending 3 years on a record - act on instinct, use what I learned in LA but don’t overthink it. Back to basics, in a way. I have been thinking a lot about what the songwriting of Lontalius means to people and how it relates to myself. My music has always been emotional and honest, but I felt I had been writing in a way that was too insular. I wasn’t really letting other people (the audience, or collaborators) into the songs! A discussion I’ve had with friends and every collaborator is “where is the entry point for the audience? am i singing to them or at them?” And of course musically it is a little different to the last record. More acoustic guitar, more natural sounds, more dynamics. Let the songwriting shine and keep the life in the music."
His music has attracted many millions of streams across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Soundcloud, and yet Lontalius is better known in America than his homeland. He was signed to Brooklyn-based indie label Partisan Records for his first album I’ll Forget 17, then spent five years in Los Angeles, collaborating with the likes of Grammy Award winning producer Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu) and Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse) on his sophomore album All I Have, which he released in late 2019 upon his return home to Wellington, New Zealand.
The homecoming allowed Lontalius to begin a new season of independent songwriting, with the knowledge gained from his collaborative projects embedded in his mind to draw upon. Moving to Auckland in March 2020, he almost immediately went into lockdown in his new home, emerging two months later with a new collection of songs. He took these songs into Studio 4 of Stebbings Recording Centre to develop and record the songs with musicians including Alex Freer and Tom Healy, who also feature in his live band.
The studio space has given Lontalius the luxury of a creative space with no hard deadlines, allowing him to lean into his craft, and self-produce his third and most ambitious album to date. With the release of Someone Will Be Here For You, Lontalius will demonstrate why he’s one of New Zealand’s most exciting musical talents, an artist with an astonishing set of skills and talents, and the ability to write a song that will stay with you for days.
supported by 5 fans who also own “Someone Will Be There For You”
This album swells like an ethereal living body of sound. It breathes. It’s straight out of a movie and I’m tearing up on each scene. Love the way they sing ha in ‘Like in a Dream’ and ‘When I See You’. More please. sig
supported by 5 fans who also own “Someone Will Be There For You”
The fave song title has to be a pun on the Canadian national anthem and yes I'm late to this party :) Liked the light touch to the extra strings and horns. Just enough to add colour and swing. Jason Kemp
Another devastatingly beautiful batch of indie rock confessionals from Ontario singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Linnea Siggelkow. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 28, 2024
supported by 4 fans who also own “Someone Will Be There For You”
Intimate and unique. This album plays well with a bottle of Syrah crunched up in your finest pair of headphones with candles lit in a steamy bubble bath. sig