Laena Myers releases her new single ‘Give ’em Hell‘ next week, the first single to be taken from her debut solo album, LUV (Songs Of Yesterday) set for release on 23rd February 2024 on Taxi Gauche Records. We are debuting the video for the inspiring and haunting ‘Give ’em Hell‘ below.
It was written six months after her father passed away, is about keeping the flame alive and having the courage to believe in yourself. A redolent strum with a country and dreamy hue, it’s reminiscent of Mazzy Star. It’s a ode to inner strength when everything seems so damn hard. “We were very close” she says. “One night before I got on stage he stopped me and said “Give ‘em hell, kid”, and this phrase has become a mantra to me, to not hold back and give it my ALL. Many of these songs come from heavy times”, she continues, “but there is always the glimmer of a brighter tomorrow. Reach out when you need to, move through the gears and you’ll come out the other side.”
The 11-track album is the first to feature the genre-spanning composer, in-demand session player/singer and classically trained violinist putting her own name to her recordings. Formerly known as Laena Geronimo and L.M.I. / Laena Myers-Ionita, Laena is perhaps best known as lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of critically-acclaimed and internationally touring rockers FEELS, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. She’s also known for her time as bassist for goth-punk band Numb.er as well as the Motown-inspired pop outfit The Like, and as the go-to-violinist for a myriad of artists from the L.A. music scene and beyond – contributing to released recordings by John Frusciante, Jhené Aiko, Ty Segall, Shannon Lay and The Allah Las to name a few. Behind the scenes, Laena also works as a session vocalist and her voice has been featured in the official Netflix trailers for 2022’s ‘Barbarians: Season 2’ as well as 2023’s ‘The Deepest Breath’.
“I have one of those brains that thrives on variety, when I have to get creative on the spot and navigate the unknown”, Laena explains, “I love working with different artists and styles of music. I get into the headspace of a song, the heart of what’s being expressed. Each interaction leaves an imprint on me.”
“For me this new solo venture is about setting aside my armour to embrace vulnerability”, Laena says of the album. “This is my first release where I’m not hiding behind anything, and even though I’ve been writing songs and playing music since I can remember, releasing this record has been a really long process. I’ve come from a place of being a really shy person to one where I feel I can share my most tender feelings publicly, even finding strength in it, and I’m realising I can also connect with people on a deeper level this way too.”
The songs contained in ‘LUV (Songs Of Yesterday)’ are picked from over the course of a decade, written purely from a place of honest expression and filled with texture, depth, and meaning. They were recorded between tours mostly in sweltering summer bedrooms by friend and co-producer Scott Cornish (Angel Olsen, Big Thief, No Age), and mixed during the pandemic. The album features Laena’s vocals, guitar, bass, and violin playing and huge-sounding, lush string arrangements supplemented with drums and percussion by Nick Murray (Cate Le Bon, White Fence, Thee Oh Sees), synths by Jeff Fribourg (Numb.er, Froth), lap steel by Cole Berliner (Kamikaze Palm Tree), and sax by Gabe Flores(Grave Flowers Bongo Band), as well as field recordings — birds singing at daybreak, footsteps and bells making their way into a cave, the wind on a peak in Angeles National Forest.
The record truly feels grown rather than made, natural and more than anything authentic ‘and believable, and is the Los Angeles album we don’t get to hear very often. One that is birthed in the hidden places — bedrooms, caves, not-so-fancy neighbourhoods, and the hidden places within the artist herself. It is an unfiltered but crafted portrait of an evocative singer, talented musician and compelling writer that invites us to come closer and dig deeper.
Laena performs live with varying accompaniment, currently playing songs off ‘LUV (Songs of Yesterday)’as well as new songs, interspersed with improvised violin and guitar loops and will be announcing UK shows soon.
Pre-save link for ‘Give Em Hell’: https://ditto.fm/give-em-hell-laena-myers
