If R&B has been perennially overlooked in Australia, Larissa Lambert has been its best-kept secret.
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Lambert → overlook → Australia
The 30-year-old has a voice so warm and vibrant it could melt your butter, fry your pancakes, boil your coffee – the full breakfast.
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it → have → coffee
It’s the kind of thing a religious person might call “a gift from God”.
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person → ’ → God
When did she know she had it?
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she → know → it
“This is so cliche but, honestly, I knew since I could f---ing talk,” Lambert says with all the bluntness that’s made her a social media favourite.
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her → know → bluntness
“I have memories of my family and people at school sitting around me being like, ‘do it again!’, and I’d sing a line and they’d be like, ‘whoa!’
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they → have → line
So I knew, like, ‘I’m good at this’.
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I → know → this
I had no plan B.
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I → have → B.
I was like, ‘I’m gonna be a singer’.
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I → go → ?
More than a decade into her career, with viral successes and plaudits from superstars like SZA and Justin Bieber to her name, she’s finally releasing her long-awaited debut album, Yearning.
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she → release → album
Filled with her effortless vocals, production flourishes that flitter between Y2K nostalgia and club trends, and writing that coolly probes her desires and insecurities, the album is a cohesive triumph.
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album → fill → desires
It begs the question: why did it take so long?
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it → beg → question
“I just never felt like I was ready,” says Lambert.
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Lambert → feel → ?
“I was always like, ‘people are expecting so much from me’, so it needed to feel authentic.
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it → expect → me
It needed to be me.”
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It → need → ?
Wearing black leather pants, her pierced septum gleaming, Lambert looks every bit the star as we speak in a room the size of a confessional in Virgin Music’s offices in inner-Sydney’s Chippendale.
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we → wear → Chippendale
We’re barely 10 minutes into the interview when she begins to outline the harrowing challenges that, at least partly, skewered the timeline to her debut.
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that → ’re → debut
Three years ago, Lambert suffered psychosis following withdrawals from an addiction to prescription Valium.
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Lambert → suffer → Valium
“My brain basically just went f---ing haywire.
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brain → go → ?
It took me a whole year to get back to normal,” she says.
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she → take → me
“During a psychosis, your whole world is flipped.
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world → flip → psychosis
I just felt hopeless.
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I → feel → ?
It’s f---ing scary.
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It → ’ → ?
“It’s like a panic attack on steroids.
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It → ’ → steroids
Everyone’s different with how they experience psychosis; some people can be aware they’re in it and some people can completely black out.
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people → ’ → it
I understood what was going on but you’re in an intense state of paranoia, you have intrusive thoughts, your moods are up and down.
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moods → understand → thoughts
Writing was the only thing that was keeping me sane.”
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that → keep → me
If your family has a history of mental health issues you should never touch it,” she says.
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she → have → it
She’s more protective of herself now.
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She → ’ → herself
“No substances, I’m 100 per cent sober,” she says.
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she → ’m → ?
“I used to have a very addictive personality and I couldn’t say no, couldn’t turn down the party phase.
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I → use → phase
Growing up, it was always like that.
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it → grow → that
“The music industry, artists, creatives – we’re so addicted to escapism, especially if you come from not the best upbringing.
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you → ’re → upbringing
You tend to emotionally regulate through substances.
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You → tend → substances
In my case, that’s what it was.
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it → ’ → case
I never knew how to deal with my emotions, so I would smoke to get out of them or take some sleepers to mellow out.
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I → know → sleepers
“It’s so toxic, man, and it catches up to you.
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it → ’ → you
It caught up to me.
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It → catch → me
So I’m 100 per cent sober, straighty-180 now.
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I → ’m → straighty-180
I can’t, it’s not worth it.”
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it → ’ → ?
…and 91 more, not listed.
The Aporia
