Have you heard of Albin Lee Meldau yet? Well, if you haven’t, then you are about to be blown away. With his perfectly graveled voice, which reminds me of James Arthur or Ed Sheeran, Meldau is sure to impress. But it’s not just his vocals, Meldau’s rhythms and brand new music video are also top notch and guaranteed to keep your attention.
Albin Lee Meldau is a 29-year-old singer-songwriter from Gothenburg, Sweden. His parents were both singers as well. His mother, Annika Iréne Blennerhed, is in fact considered one of the strongest female jazz voices in Sweden.
With this strong musical background, Meldau played on the streets, in churches, at weddings, at funerals and at various other venues, eventually forming the soul band, Magnolia. He has since gone solo under Capitol Records.
Meldau released his EP Lovers in early 2016. The song “Lou Lou”became an instant hit and fan favorite. The new music video for this song was actually just recently released and only adds to the complex story that Meldau was able to weave into his lyrics.
The singer said in an interview with HumanHuman that it is “a short, dark, obscure, Scandic-noir love story,” a sentiment which struck me as surprisingly accurate the first time I listened to the song. It’s truly beautiful and definitely worth your time.
When performing, Albin Lee Meldau thinks that perfection is useless.
“You need to find some kind of scar, there needs to be some weird little thing that makes it interesting... it shouldn’t be perfect, it shouldn’t too much,” he said, according to HumanHuman.
While most artists strive for perfection, he is striving for authenticity and ingenuity, a rare and refreshing trait in this day and age.
The recent release of the “Lou Lou” music video has brought much attention to Meldau because of the heavy message that it shows its viewers. The entire video is a frozen frame panning the scene of a drug overdose as paramedics are arriving.
The only moving figure is the singer himself. An especially heart-wrenching moment is a zoom in on the girl’s face as she lies frozen and dying. Her helplessness is evident in every aspect of the video.
“For me, this video is real,” Meldau said in an interview with NPR Music. “It’s a dark story about being in the midst of addiction, mental illness and drug abuse. This song was written about a girl. Unfortunately in my country, she’s one of many.”
The video is a message for those who are struggling and those that can help them. Watch the video on NPR to see and hear the chilling art for yourself and consider its impact on how we view addiction.
Viewers should take note of the emotional punch that the “Lou Lou” music video provides.
On a lighter note, a fun fact about Meldau is that he used to play the trumpet.
“It’s something you need to practice like all the time, so it’s not something that you can do when you feel like it. Now, I play the guitar, sing and produce,” he told HumanHuman,
So I guess we won’t be hearing his trumpet skills anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy all Meldau’s other talents. Meldau will be performing at Bonnaroo Music Festival this June!
