Harry Hudson-Taylor is the mastermind behind Lady Bird Lad. His music converges to create something unique as he combines elements of Conor O'Brien's Villagers, Ben Howard's emotive storytelling, Damien Rice's raw emotional force, and eerie Elliot Smith-like melodies.
He returns with his melancholy and upbeat new track 'More Than Enough', ahead of his debut EP, to be released in March. The alternative folk-pop release demonstrates the depth of his passion for music and his unparalleled ability to combine powerful lyrics with enthralling instruments. Listening to it is uplifting since it features Lady Bird Lad's heartfelt vocals and amazing earworm production.
We sat down with Lady Bird Lad to discuss his music and much more. Here's what he had to say:
Hey Lady Bird Lad, welcome to FLEX! How are you?
Hello FLEX team. I'm good, thank you. Keeping busy and trying my best to channel my creativity into new songs while also making sure I don't neglect the ones that are sitting on the shelf.
Congratulations on your brand-new single ‘More Than Enough’ - what inspired this particular track?
'More Than Enough' was inspired by seeing a friend struggling with their mental health and trying to encapsulate the feeling of deeply relating to and understanding those feelings and offering support. It began as a collaborative effort during a songwriting session intended for another artist called Jack Devlin, but as the piece evolved, it became clear that it resonated deeply with my own journey. The message of the song is about recognising one's inherent worth and finding strength in vulnerability. To me, the narrator of the song is a sort of Inner Loving Parent caring for an Inner Child.
And do you have to be in a certain mood to write?
Not necessarily a specific mood, but I do find that a sense of introspection and openness to my own emotions and experiences significantly fuels my process. Sometimes, it's the quiet, reflective moments that ideas come to me, sometimes out and about on a walk. Often being alone really helps me get into my most playful state where I don't allow judgment to come in as much and just try to have fun with it.
How was the recording and writing process?
The process was incredibly organic. It started with a Zoom call with Jack that lasted about four hours. We had never met each other and so I introduced some playing cards which had get-to-know-a-stranger sort of questions but they also went quite deep and into some more vulnerable places. We wrote two songs and then evolved what we wrote into some more structured demos. I love to dive into the production early, as I often visualize the instrumentation and arrangement alongside the lyrical and melodic development. Eventually, after a year or so of sitting on the demo, I took into a studio in Berlin called Tricone Studios and put down some drums and bass on the track.
For viewers who don’t know Lady Bird Lad, how would you describe your sound?
The sound of Lady Bird Lad is a mix of dark folk and pop, intertwined with sort of contemplative/introspective lyrics and some pop hooks. I like to call it Urban Pagan Pop, just because that's a silly name for it that somehow makes sense to me. It's music that at its core was written from my seeking to find healing.
And what are some of those activities that you engage yourself in when you aren't writing or recording in the studio?
When I'm not in the studio, you might find me practicing yoga or enjoying some cold water somewhere. I'm also deeply intrigued by the exploration of consciousness and enjoy diving into philosophical podcasts and discussions or reading about topics like spiral dynamics and meta-modernism spirituality. I also work in a Hot Sauce company called Crazy Bastard Sauce as a side hustle. I fricken love hot sauce - so much so that I actually have my own hot sauce called "Lady Bird Lad - More Than Enough".
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