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Starve Session
With "Starve", LOTA tells a very personal story about aesthetic standards and the social demands on them. The catchy synth-pop song is about numbers and about expectations, about one's own demands and about social pressure - especially in relation to one's own body.
"I remember very clearly when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and I was standing in the bathroom with some primary school friends and a friend said to me, "How much do you weigh?". We started weighing ourselves and comparing. That's my first memory of my weight mattering in any way, and that number on the scale has stayed with me through my youth and young adulthood in all the years since." Cologne-based singer LOTA tells us in one of her posts on Instagram. Her song "Starve" is about exactly this time, when she was striving for an unhealthy ideal of beauty, which was exemplified to her by the media. And about the process in which she realised that her body is more than just a number on a scale.
Carried by spherical synth sounds, LOTA sings: "All I feel is the pressure, why do I measure my self-worth on a scale". The song's basic mood picks up on the disorientation with which those affected by eating disorders often have to struggle and the vicious circle in which they often find themselves; "We see the faces, We See big Screens, We see the faces, Big Screens So Bright".
The Session was filmed by photographer and videographer Laura Most and edited together with her brother Raphael Most in an empty warehouse.
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Dialogue feat. Jules Ahoi
Closeness and its many facets are the theme that the artist LOTA takes up in her third single "Dialogue". The soulful synth ballad was created in collaboration with Cologne-based singer-songwriter Jules Ahoi. Together, the two childhood friends tell in "Dialogue" what it's like to lose yourself in good conversations with an interesting person and to get closer and closer to them in a very special way.
Authenticity and honesty and just being able to give yourself as you are" - that's what "Dialogue" is about. In the song, Cologne newcomer LOTA sets to music the magic of a profound conversation that brings you closer to your counterpart, and not just on an intellectual level. In the figurative sense, the song is about a journey that you embark on together without knowing where and how it will end - but that's beside the point, it's really about the shared adventure in the here and now.
Enveloped by atmospheric synth sounds, LOTA and Jules Ahoi sing together: 'And I don't know what it is that is pushing me this time'. The chorus of "Dialogue" charmingly picks up on the song's curiosity-driven mood. In the end, however, this leads to closeness and familiarity; that we know each other and that we see each other - on many levels.
LOTA herself says about her third single and the collaboration with Jules Ahoi; "Jules and I have known each other for over ten years now and we have a lot in common, both personally and musically, because we have been through a lot of ups and downs together. The song means a lot to me. "Dialogue" came off very quickly because we know each other so well and just know how we are and can be and want to be with each other."
The video for "Dialogue" was created in collaboration with the Cologne-based photographer and videographer Lukas Faller. In it, LOTA and Jules Ahoi take the audience on an (atmospheric) road trip in an old Golf convertible. Their journey is an adventure full of interpersonal magic and thus skilfully picks up the mood of the song visually.
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eyes
"Where is my limit? How much more can I give emotionally in a relationship with a depressed person
without getting anything in return?"
That is the question "eyes" is about. In the song, Cologne
newcomer LOTA deals with her experiences with depression - not as a direct sufferer, but as a witness to how the illness has affected and changed people close to her.
Enveloped by atmospheric synth sounds and carried by fragile piano sounds, LOTA sings in a sad voice:
'And all I see are your sad eyes. And all I feel is your empty face.' The chorus of 'eyes' is a lethargic résumé of the sadness and helplessness that the song sets to music.
LOTA herself says about her second single;
"'eyes' is the song on the EP that we worked on the most. I wrote the song at a time when many of my close friends were in depression. I've also been in a relationship with a depressed person before. Just to shed some light on how it feels to be the person who is part of a relationship and also has to live with the consequences without being directly affected - that was my basic idea. I wrote 'eyes' in a mode of helplessness, when I didn't know what else I should and could do."
The video for "eyes" was created in collaboration with the 3D motion artist Felix Preis. In it, he visualises the inner emptiness and the sad atmosphere of the song in abstract, impressive images. The video subtly shows the protagonists caught somewhere between sadness and helplessness and thus skilfully picks up on the melancholic mood of "eyes".
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GIRL
„Why keep this tragedy?“– with this question, LOTA holds a mirror up to herself in her debut single "GIRL".
The autobiographically influenced song is about the emotional turmoil that comes with any investment of the heart; the (longing) addiction, the fear, but also the lessons we learn from it that ultimately make us stronger.
Enveloped by fragile piano sounds and atmospheric synth beats, LOTA sings in a clear voice:
"How long do we need to look back? It's not him you lack."
"GIRL" is a statement under the sign of female empowerment and an appeal to the self-image of one's own independence. It's not about romantic Hollywood happy endings on the big screen, it's about the very personal small successes that you celebrate when you realise that you are enough for yourself.
With her first single, the newcomer LOTA gives a charming foretaste of her debut EP, which will be released later this year. Cologne-based singer and songwriter Lotta Holtei is behind the project. Previously an instrumentalist in various band projects (including Jules Ahoi), she is now taking the next step and releasing songs she has written, arranged and - in collaboration with Lukas Streich (We Will Kaleid) - produced herself for the first time.
LOTA herself says about her first single; "GIRL is about a process that I also went through myself and that strengthened me a lot. I realised - okay, I'm worth taking care of myself and I don't have to depend on anyone. When things are bad for me, I can pull myself out of it and don't have to make it dependent on a relationship or a man."
The idea and realisation of the music video for "GIRL" came from the Hamburg-based photographer and videographer Johanna Besseling. Referring to the autobiographical approach of the lyrics, Besseling becomes the protagonist of the video. In impressive scenes, she shows the process of running away and arriving at oneself. A skilful visualisation of the song's message: fall down, get up, keep running.