Lorentz's "Där Dit Vinden Kommer" Is Loco in a Good Way

Loso, Lorre, Losobaby – the list of nicknames for Lorentz goes on forever. The fans went loco when Sweden’s auto tune R&B boy went solo. One of the reasons the response has been so damn good is probably the honesty in Lorentz’s lyrics. He sings about everyday stuff for a typical twenty-something-guy hanging out in the Swedish capital – stuff such as smoking cigarettes, drinking mimosas and working night shifts at McDonald’s. He is very relatable, even though most of us can’t afford to drink mimosas all the time, unfortunately. Trust me I’ve tried. So when we were asked to premiere the video for ”Där dit vinden kommer” I went loco, too. The song is taken from his solo album Kärlekslåtar [Swedish for love songs], and it’s one of the top-three most played songs on many of my friends’ Spotify-lists (myself included). The album was released this summer and became on the top of the list of Swedish solo records of the year. When performing in Gothenburg at the Way Out West festival, for example, he broke the all-time audience record at Trädgården. Lortentz all-white-outfits onstage transform his entire body a platform for projection of images and cool patterns. You just have to take one look at Lorentz to know that the clothes he’s wearing are as important to him as the music coming out of the speakers. Before breaking solo, he made two albums with his brother Sakarias (who also went solo with his album Atlanten). On the last album the brothers made together, you can hear the how their own sounds started to emerge. Recently, Lorentz was nominated for the P3 Guld awards in two categories: Artist of the Year and Hip-hop/Soul of the Year. I called him to ask about the video, visuals and how he feels about performing abroad.

Lorentz – “Där dit vinden kommer” feat. Jaqe, Duvchi, jj, Joy

NOISEY: What have you been doing today?
Lorentz: I’m performing at P3 Guld in January, so I’m preparing the show now, directing it. It’s really a performance, not just a show.

In what way is it a performance and not just a show?
Well, it’s not just a live song, it’s more than that. It’s a gala performance. It’s taking place in Gothenburg but we’re doing the production here in Stockholm.

It’s obvious that the visuals are super important to you. Has it always been that way?
Yeah, I guess it’s always been that way, but I feel a lot less limited nowadays. For the first time I can follow my visual ambitions from this bigger plattform I now have, because I’ve worked my way up. And that goes for videos, the live act and everything around.

Because you’ve gone solo?
Absolutely, I got a bigger scope, and it feels like I’m in another place now as a solo artist. The visuals is more important to me than making money. It’s not a very exciting thing to play live if you can’t visually do what you want, so of course it’s mega important.

I have a theory. Your brother, Sakarias, recently also released a solo album. Your album cover is white, his album cover is black. In your first very colour sparkling video you wear white, in his first video he wears black, and it’s all in black and grey. Is there a visual master plan behind it all?
You’re asking if it was a plan all along? Yes it was.

Really!?
No. When I did my first video I was all dressed in white and I just went with it when playing live.

So you guys haven’t even talked about it?
Actually I haven’t thought about it. Maybe it reflects us as yin and yang is some way.

I at least think it’s on people’s mind, that you guys are getting back together with a newly found Watch the Throne-momentum as solo artists.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a master plan to make a solo album each with different visual styles. But we will make more music together, though it is unclear in what shape or form.

The director of the the video for ”Dit där vinden kommer” is called Marcus Söderlund and he’s done a all sorts of music videos with other artists who hit big in 2014, such as Yung Lean and 1987. How did you decide that this was the video you wanted to make?
I wanted to capture the simplicity. To film very realistic things, life things, and let them shine through. I wanted to make small things like everyday stuff to feel big. The idea was to not go all in and instead let the small things grow. Sometimes fishing or eating fruit can be as life as it gets.

I love the bit when the rapper Joy sits in a car and just goes at it.
Yeah, it’s honest. I also think that stuff makes the meaning of the song get through in a whole other way. Makes it stronger and up front.

Exactly, your last video, ”Allt från mig”, was bombastic.
And it’s really the same kind of epicness in both, but we worked with various means to get there. ”Där dit vinden kommer” is such a big song that I wanted to work with minimalism to get the meaning through.

You started your tour for the album in Oslo. How was the reception?
Yes, at Øyafestivalen. Surprisingly good response, they seem to like me in Norway, and that’s nice. They’re actually playing the album track ”Houston” on the radio over there, as their own single. The club I played was full, sold out, and I’ve been back since but a little bit under the radar. I look forward to returning to Norway, definitely.

You and your brother played some shows in Finland, do you want to play more outside of Sweden?
In Finland we had a guy called Janne Keko, shout out to him, who did a lot of the street promotion and got us playing on radio which got us onto a lot of festival stages over there. So we’ve been there and in Norway. The only country I haven’t been to in the Nordics is Denmark. It would be really cool to do a show there. I don’t have a plan to play more in other countries, i’m just going to let it happen by itself.

Next year you’re doing Sónar Stockholm and Umeå Open. And suddenly it’s almost been a year. What’s next?
Today, except for releasing this video, I’m announcing a spring tour. So that’s the plan from now. There’s still a lot of places I haven’t played at.

I look forward to it, Lorentz.
Thanks man.

Lorentz is on Facebook and Soundcloud. Follow Rasmus on Twitter.