LINA's debut SUCKER is one that speaks to the versatility of human experiences and the ones she has traversed so far.
Having cut her teeth in bands and fostering multiple projects over the years, Catalina Richardson is the creator behind LINA. This latest project has stepped into an expansive portrayal of human capabilities expressed in her debut 11 track album SUCKER.
LINA, as a project, is new to releasing music. However, the creator behind the moniker Richardson has woven music into her being since the outset of her humanhood.
It’s no wonder that SUCKER, released June 26th this year, pays a deep homage to the mother-child relationship – perhaps the most precious connection in the living world.
Although the exploration of this relationship maintains an undercurrent for the 11 tracks and 50 minutes, the album contains a whole suite of themes that undulate through the varied sound of the record.
This ebbs from heartbreak, to falling in love, to falling out of love, and then flows into the struggle with self-belief and the challenge of being an artist in the modern world.
Its representation assumes form in LINA’s sweeping and mesmeric lyricism and vocals, only to be further amplified in the musical layering of the sounds she has carefully chosen. A journeying and flowing narrative in and of itself, one that moves from euphoric electronic production to stripped back ballads pieced together by piano and vocals.
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The LP remains a microcosmic expression of the potentialities of the human experience, as LINA entrenches herself in the breadth of every fibre of its layering. Almost two months after its release, LINA is gearing up with her newly formed six-piece band to present the album live.
Having already showcased a vinyl listening party that incorporated another facet of her interests in yoga, she and the band are set to play Shotkickers in Naarm/Melbourne on Thursday, August 27th with support from Maddy Petch and Quicksticks (DJ), acting as an official album launch party.
For Richardson, who spoke to The Music ahead of the show, this time since the release, marks a significant moment of metamorphosis for the sound of SUCKER to transmute into a live performance.
“The thing that feels most alive right now is the determination and hard work that it continues to take after the release and how much I put into the release itself,” examines Richardson. “Post-release, it's like the real work begins now – in forming a band and hence organising band practices and working towards the launch.
“I am really excited for the launch, but it's having to shake off the nerves of not playing live for a while and still keep maintaining a connection to that trust of self and being like, 'No, I can do this, I've got this.'
“Because there's definitely been some moments where I'm like, 'I can't do this, I haven't got this.' But the people around me that I've gathered for the band and for the live experience are all really incredible musicians and they make me excited about it, to be able to give these songs new life out in the world now.”
And yet it's been the process of making SUCKER, of confronting a sense of discomfort and a lack of belief that has allowed Richardson to develop more confidence in her relationship to music and ultimately herself.
“Previously in every project or other time I've performed leading up to this, there's been a lot of doubt whether I'm good enough to take up that space,” concedes Richardson. “And that doubt still exists within me, but I think having a bit more of a realised vision for this album and having now released it has given me that deeper element of trust in myself.
“It isn’t faultless though and I do falter on it sometimes, but the resounding feeling I get is that this thing, the music, being creative is something that I have to do, want to do and need to do — that’s what keeps me driving forward.”
“It's something a lot of artists grapple with, it's so much easier to just park your dream if it takes a perceived amount of work you deem too much. And even in all of this, there's definitely been moments where there's always more I could be doing to try and help myself as an emerging artist.
“But then the other thought that comes in is that I'm doing the best I can with the tools I have right now. And who knows what doors it's going to open up. And I just have to maintain connection in a healthy way with that confidence to get me over the line.”
And the application of creating SUCKER hasn’t just benefitted Richardson in that sense either. Additionally, SUCKER has allowed for the friendships Richardson has to be strengthened, the other — cultivating empowerment in having an aspect of their story told.
“I don't think I expected myself to tell so many other people's stories in the process of the album because previously I felt limited by my capacity to write songs about people other than myself,” adds Richardson.
“But now that I've expanded into that field it feels crucial to help tell those stories and shed light on that grief, joy, on all aspects of every emotion that I explored throughout the body of work.
“One of my dear friends, who initially inspired the song Sucker, left me wanting to be very mindful around sharing part of her grieving and her story. I didn't want to exploit her grief and her hardship, but she messaged me and she was very thankful for me handling her story the way that I did.
“Having those conversations can be harder than you think, but it meant a lot to her. I'm glad that it struck the right chord instead of the wrong one because my intentions are good and pure and coming from a place of care, of really deep care.”
SUCKER’s expression of creativity has been as much about connection; and the entanglement of the two as anything –- a deeply meaningful inquiry into that inherent intersection.
“I feel so lucky to be surrounded by all of the friends, family, artists, musicians, writers and people in my life that are around at the same time on this planet,” admits Richardson. “For a long time I thought I had to do it all on my own, and I was pretty stubborn in that.
“The most beautiful thing to come out of this has been crossing that threshold from the ‘I can do it on my own’ to realising actually no, I can't do it on my own. And What's more, I don't want to do it on my own anymore.”
There’s a lesson in the softening and deepening that LINA has explored and exposed in SUCKER, one that comes at a timely point in the history of humans.
LINA's SUCKER is out now. Tickets to the upcoming album launch are on sale now.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
