LA-based, Aussie native electronic producer and songwriter, Laura Jane Lowther, otherwise known by the pseudonym, Kučka, released their sophomore album, Can You Hear Me Dreaming?, on July 12. The track list fuses electronic and pop genres and incorporates a grungy undertone.
Can You Hear Me Dreaming? illustrates Lowther’s ability to explore light and sanguine melodies as well as harder, and more off beat sounds. With songs like Messed Up and Heavyweight, they leave listeners with an internal desire to move. But a song such as Gross Body draws you into an underworld of introspection, emphasised by strong, dark and elongated sonic punches combined with spoken lyrics.
Much of this album was made in collaboration with Lowther’s wife, Dillon Howl, whose influence comes through in the visual side of the album as well as some lyrical writing. The album also features prominent artist Flume on the track One More Night, which highlights Lowther’s voice in a high-note dreamy, digital sound that is familiar in Flume’s collaborations. The track is accompanied by a brightly-coloured music video that brings viewers into an erotic fantasy world featuring Sim-dancers, horny chihuahuas and plastic horses, including Lowther’s sexually suggestive choice to sport long, royal blue acrylics on all but two fingers — their index and middle.
The artist breaks down their and their wife’s creative process and speaks on the visual inspiration behind her recent album, including online Reddit forums, and their idea of “emotional voyeurism,” which they said is “a technique to get to the heart of the feeling behind the stories.”
Hi Laura, how are you doing today? Are there any songs you have been listening to on repeat lately?
I’m doing great today! I’ve been listening to Marcus Whale’s album Ecstasy and also Torrent by Crimewave. They both make me feel like I'm in a movie while I’m riding my bike around.
Your second album, Can You Hear Me Dreaming?, came out Friday July 12. What about this album makes you most excited? Are there any elements or songs you are particularly proud of creating?
I think my two favourite tracks are Mountain and Gross Body, for different reasons. I like the production of Gross Body a lot — I definitely took it into a direction that I’ve never really explored, using a more grungy sound with guitars and more bitcrushed drums. Then, I really like the overall feel of Mountain. I think the lyrics and production work really well together to paint the picture that I wanted. Sometimes you have an idea in your head and manage to actually execute it properly, and I think Mountain is the best example of that on the album.
With the title, is there any person or group you are addressing when you ask, can you hear me dreaming?
I guess it’s addressing whoever is listening. I thought that phrase really worked to get you in the right headspace to understand some of the themes of the album.
You and your wife collaborate on the composing process. What is the best part of working with your partner on music, and what aspects are particularly challenging?
The best part is that we can work on stuff whenever we want. We will be chilling watching TV, then we get chatting, and the next minute we’re in the studio trying to get our ideas down! This can also be challenging, like for example if I want to take some time away from the project then it can be hard to switch off, since it’s so intertwined with our daily life now.
What are the primary ways your wife contributes to your songs?
She comes up with most of the visual elements. She’s an incredible director and photographer so it’s awesome to have her input on that side of things. But we also write lyrics together and have this new project Pesh where she provides spoken word too! To distill all of these down I would say she’s a really conceptual thinker so she can translate ideas to many different mediums.
Have you both ever bickered over certain elements of creation and production? How do you navigate this? Are there times when one of you has to let the other have their creative way, or do you always come to some sort of compromise?
Yes, totally! We have disagreements all the time, but working out that push and pull and when to really fight for your point of view has actually been a super healthy way of working on our communication overall. We try to compromise as much as possible, but we do let each other take the lead when it’s in our specialty area. For example, I will always get final say on the music and Dillon would get final say on a photo edit.
How has working with your wife influenced the sound and style of your music? In what ways does she influence you most?
She’s really honest and cares much more about the feeling of things rather than technical aspects. This can be super handy when I’m working on a mixdown or finishing a track. She will let me know if I’m squashing the life out of it and need to go back to an earlier version.
You have collaborated with many well-known artists, such as Flume, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky and Dom Maker. Tell us about the artists featured on your newest album. How do you prepare for collaborating with an artist?
Aside from Dillon/Pesh, I have one song which is co-produced by Flume and there are two more tracks with additional production by sauna6 and pnkblnkt. These came about pretty organically so I didn’t need to prepare too much for them which was great! I actually found sauna6 from a remix competition that we did for No Good For Me, a track from my last record. Out of like 200 or so entries I chose his remix as the winner, and we started sharing ideas back and forth after that. pnkblnkt had messaged me on IG a bit and happened to send me some ideas on a day where I was finishing a track. One of them fit in perfectly with what I was working on so it was kind of kismet.
Are there any artists who you draw inspiration from or who have deeply influenced the music you make?
For this record, I used visual inspiration more than I ever have before. I put a bunch of images on my desktop that ranged from cartoons to sketches of surreal creatures to cool tattoos and art objects that inspired me. When I was writing, I kept going back to these images, and I let them inform the music I was creating.
What motivated you to create music within the electronic genre? Is this the type of music you have always made or has your sound evolved overtime?
I started off experimenting with GarageBand when I was a teenager, and that led me to finding out about Ableton and the other DAWs. The sound has definitely evolved over time, and I would say it has become less experimental in both the process and sound. It’s quite funny because I’ve definitely got some online comments from people who liked my early stuff saying, Your music is more pop now. You lost your authenticity, etc, but they don’t realise that I actually have always loved pop music. I just didn’t have the skills to make it before, so this is actually more of an authentic sound to me.
Is the music that you listen to similar to what you create? Why or why not?
I love all kinds of music and actually listen to everything from jazz to classical to heavy rock to ambient. I definitely would say I listen to more music that is outside of the realm of what I could make. I think that’s because I can really enjoy it as a fan without thinking about the mix or what synth they used etc. I’m not analysing a folk song in the same way I would electronic stuff.
I read that you are also involved in online forums like Humanoid Encounters, a Reddit subgroup for people who believe to have encountered extraterrestrial entities. Can you tell me a bit about your experience with this? Please feel free to go into as much detail as you want.
Wow, yes. I love all these weird little Reddit groups. I’m definitely an observer rather than an active contributor though! I think what’s great about that group is that I can never tell if the people posting are genuinely recounting an experience or if it’s a work of fiction. Lots of the stories are like, I was out walking and I saw a tall figure pointing north and telling me to follow them down a path. They were eight feet tall and didn’t have a nose. I think it’s cool that other people riff on these stories without question and build on the fantasy of it all. If you said something like that at a party, I think people would laugh or walk away and be creeped out, but this is kind of a safe space for people to explore their delusions or imagination. I think people find it fun to get swept away by it.
Has this experience impacted your music at all? And if so, in what ways?
I definitely explored this idea of building on fantasy for Can You Hear Me Dreaming? For my last album I wanted everything to be really truthful and come from my lived experience, whereas for this album I drew inspiration from more abstract sources. I pieced together fragments of stories that were sourced from all different places — whether real or imagined, and came up with this idea of emotional voyeurism as a technique to get to the heart of the feeling behind the stories.
Does your wife share similar experiences with you on this topic?
She has her own weird little online rabbit holes that she goes down. I think she’s definitely more of a TikTok girl. She saves a bunch of them that she thinks I will like and every few days we will have a little watch session where we go through and laugh at all the funny ones together.
You and your wife met online. What do you think are the benefits of meeting a significant other in this way?
Well, when I met my wife I actually was trying to have my slut phase (laughs). I had been living in LA for about six months and was having fun casually dating. I think being queer, the apps are amazing to have since you can sometimes find it hard to know if the other person is also queer or is interested in a more platonic relationship. There are so few spaces for queer women to meet in real life, so having apps is definitely an amazing way to connect.
How has falling in love shaped your music?
I think it’s given me a sense of self confidence that I didn’t have before. There’s nothing like having someone who sees you at your worst and still thinks you’re cool.
Do you have any tours coming up soon? What do you hope your listeners gain from your new album, if anything?
Yes for sure. We [recently announced] some Europe and [very soon will share dates for] Asia shows. I’m working on some edits and remixes of my tracks that will work better in more of a club or live setting. I think having a one off experience that you can’t get from the record is important.
