Danish synthpop duo Lucaléy (Ea Phillippa Tange and Bo Karlsson) aren’t just performers, producers and songwriters, they’re community-focused, running music workshops together for high school students across Denmark. “Truth”, which they premiere with us today, is ethereal Scandinavian pop of the highest caliber, with Tange’s delicate soprano bounding over a flickering field of ambient synth and minimal beats. The song is about the stark power of truth, both to tear down and to rebuild; the pain in hearing difficult truths from others and the resilience in stating your own truths to the world.
We asked the duo a bit about the impulse behind the song, and we talked a bit about their views on honesty and confession. You can read their collective answers to our questions after the stream of “Truth” below.
Where did the concept for “Truth” come from? What specifically spurred you to write this song?
The concept came from a personal experience of someone close to us, someone we thought we could rely on, suddenly turning on us. [This person] verbally assaulted Ea, disapproving completely of who we really are and the choices we have made in life as musicians, not living up to this persons and society’s expectations, but following our inner calling. That spurred us to take all that disappointment and hurt and turn it around and use all that energy to stay even more true to ourselves and follow our hearts even more. To stand up for ourselves and say: “This is who we are, this is the life we want to live; take it or leave it.”
We’ve seen a lot of truth-telling happening in public lately, via social media. Do you think truth necessarily has to be a public, confessional act?
No, we don’t believe that truth necessarily needs to be a public confessional act. It really depends upon what it is about. In some cases speaking up in public helps shine a light on some big problems, which needs to be addressed, and telling the truth in public might help and inspire others to deal with things that are really hard. Truth is a very big subject and it is seldom black and white.
How do you interpret honesty in your own lives, especially in your communication as a band?
In our lives we really strive to find our own truth – and that is really an inside job. To be honest to ourselves in the choices we make and do what feels right, not what we think will please others. Even though it is simple, it is not always easy. And in our communication as a band it is really the same thing. In the music industry there is so much pretending to be something you are not, because people think they need to be a certain way to succeed or be approved of. We believe it is so much stronger to be truthful and honest.
