Under the Radar: LVRA

With a Sound of Young Scotland gong to her name and a new album in the pipeline, LVRA will be an artist to look out for in 2022, write Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon
By Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon
Published 5th Dec 2021, 07:00 BST

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When LVRA, aka Rachel Lu, recently picked up the The Sound of Young Scotland gong at the Scottish Album of the Year Awards, it marked six years since she released her first song at the age of 16, and served as further validation that the 22-year-old singer and producer is one of the country’s most exciting new talents.

Born in Edinburgh to Chinese parents, LVRA has honed a compelling sound which blends meaty beats, experimental electronics and a love of R’n’B with a striking visual aesthetic boosted by a series of videos directed by Oscar McNab. Her lyrics deal with power, money and materialism – topics she should be well equipped to explore, having studied politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford.

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This summer LVRA played the BBC Introducing stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals and has already been confirmed for Colourboxx in Glasgow’s Ballahouston Park for next June. In the meantime, she will be releasing a string of remixes of her current single In Your Blood and using her SAY Award prize money to record her debut album. See www.facebook.com/lvraofficial

Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon run music industry seminar and social night Born To Be Wide, www.borntobewide.co.uk

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