Photo: Press
New York natives Lucas Goodman and Jillian Hervey, AKA Lion Babe, are holed up in a cozy snug of a room in a London club on Portobello road. It’s a rare moment of respite from the breakneck pace of promotion for their new album Begin. Considering they only landed this morning from New York and have spent the day on a photo shoot the pair are relaxed, warm and game to talk.
If you're unfamiliar with Lion Babe and their music, it’s unlikely that will remain the case for much longer. There story so far is a blessed one: their chance meeting in Boston, a call from Pharrell Williams and collaborations with Mark Ronson and Disclosure.
All of which has resulted in their debut album Begin, which has just landed in the UK and is chock full of R n’B, neo-soul and glitchy beats that make tracks like 'Impossible' and 'Wonder Woman' inescapably infectious.
Their high spirits today might have something to do with the listening party for the new album that was held last night in New York. It went well, and they’re clearly excited by the response. There’s a palpable sense of relief too - not just to the reception - it’s also been a long process. Their first single, 'Treat Me Like Fire', landed in 2012, so they’re just happy to let go. As Lucas explains, “[There's] a lot we wanna do that wasn't right until we finished this first. Its like we had to hand in our homework first before we go and do other stuff.”
Their homework is a genre hopping beast of a record that doesn’t hide its light under a bushel. Hervey and Goodman explain that their music’s eclectic nature comes from their own wide ranging tastes, and the difficulty in pinning them down isn't something they’re worried about, as Hervey says, “I think were pretty comfortable with the non placement vibe.” Goodman adds: “What connected us was our eclectic tastes.”
When asked how they arrived at their sound, there’s no doubt their famous collaborators made an impression. It’s hardly surprising that Goodman, as a producer himself, was more than taken with the experience. “It was pretty amazing, they’re heroes you know. It was definitely a huge learning experience just to watch those guys work - obviously they’re like superdudes.”
Hervey also speaks of how getting on the road influenced them to push for more up-tempo tracks. They swiftly realised they had to keep a crowd’s attention: “When you’re playing festivals you don't really have time for slow vibes. Everyone wants to dance.” It also had a huge impact on her voice, which she said became stronger through the process and made her “more eager, or able, to go bigger.”
It’s a voice that has been favourably compared to Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, and despite clearly enjoying such comparisons, Hervey is very much her own woman. When asked about being a woman in an industry still sadly plagued by sexism, she acknowledges she and Goodman get treated differently, and that often people look to him for the answers: “I can handle myself. It's like come on! Theres always that struggle to be taken seriously. Thankfully amazing people have picked up on our music and our sound, but a lot of people can’t even get past how we look.”
It’s a problem clearly not lost on Goodman either: “Yeah it's like, why are you asking me all this shit? Ask her yourself.”
It’s an issue that seeps into their music also. 'Wonder Woman' is a brilliantly defiant number that calls out the cat callers. Despite being based on age-old sexist behaviour, Hervey explains it was made after the call from Pharrell, which was a huge moment of affirmation: “With the uniqueness of what we were doing I just felt very powerful in that moment, but then also because I had such a great opportunity to do that I just wanted to say something valuable.
“Its frustrating but I do think I'm just coming of age and figuring myself out and so much of what life is not necessarily just your gender but how you fell in the world, and I feel very connected to my female energy.”
Of course, connecting to the world is so much easier now - but that has its inherent pitfalls. Goodman is less worried about the troll side of the internet and simply brushes it off: “Some people are just haters - and it’s like ‘what the fuck are you doing?” Instead, he sees it as a way to connect with their audience, “What's really awesome is to see what our fans and community looks like - who they are. It's so cool - it's great - we love the Lion Babe people.”
The future looks bright and busy for Lion Babe, and although they’ve got plenty of promo and shows to do they’re looking forward the getting back into the studio. But before then, they’ll be swinging by the UK in June for a headline slot at KOKO. When asked what we should expect from the show, Hervey says: “We’re really just excited to do something special. The UK’s been such a huge part of the process of this album and this community was the one to really embrace us at first.” No doubt it will be one to remember.
Lion Babe’s debut album, Begin, is out now. The band perform a headline gig at London’s KOKO on 1 June. Get tickets and more information here.
