‘Listen to this beautiful rework of one of my first songs. This brought tears to my eyes’ – Ólafur Arnalds
‘Largo’s possibly the most honest openhearted tribute to a parent I’ve ever heard. A poignant and powerful lament’ – Tom Robinson, BBC Radio Six Music
4/5* - Duncan Seaman, Yorkshire Post
‘The great songwriter who always encapsulates so many different feelings and strands of emotion in his work’ – Charlie Ashcroft, Amazing Radio
‘Largo’s possibly the most honest openhearted tribute to a parent I’ve ever heard. A poignant and powerful lament’ – Tom Robinson, BBC Radio Six Music
4/5* - Duncan Seaman, Yorkshire Post
‘The great songwriter who always encapsulates so many different feelings and strands of emotion in his work’ – Charlie Ashcroft, Amazing Radio
Leeds-based composer Joseph Lawrenson is on a quest to turn his favourite pieces of classical music into the most beautiful love songs in the world. The cinematic and deeply moving debut album ‘Songs for Film’ is a collection of song arrangements of classical pieces. The album is a stirring slice of timeless chamber pop, richly cinematic and deeply moving, showcasing composer Joseph Lawrenson’s uncanny ability to build beautiful, filmic pieces of truly engaging music.
Joseph Lawrenson: ‘Songs for Film was a beautiful accident. I just couldn’t help it. As I listened to my favourite pieces of classical music, words would form over the melodies. I could hear the vocal lines in my head. Some classical music is just irresistibly lyrical. In that sense, I couldn’t help but turn these pieces in to songs. They already sounded like songs to me. Of course, there was a huge amount of editing, re-arranging, and fine-tuning to be done, but in the first instance, the songs sort of landed in my lap’
Like a modern day Randy Newman, or a Yorkshire Bacharach if you will, Lawrenson occupies the spot of band-leader with ease, conjuring up inspired arrangements that seem to call out for moving images and the hushed wonder of the cinema. The album features a staggering list of talented collaborators and guest vocalists: Jasmine Kennedy, Julianna Zachariou, Alyesha Wise, Anew Day, Ajimal, & IMOGEN.
It is an inspired collection of original works, ingenious reimaginings and reworks (magpie-ing from the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, Simeon Walker), and fresh, contemporary arrangements of classical staples (Bach, Chopin, Tchaicovsky). It’s an album that defies categorisation, hovering wonderfully between a number of pigeon- holes, like the soundtrack to the greatest film never made.
Joseph Lawrenson: ‘Songs for Film was a beautiful accident. I just couldn’t help it. As I listened to my favourite pieces of classical music, words would form over the melodies. I could hear the vocal lines in my head. Some classical music is just irresistibly lyrical. In that sense, I couldn’t help but turn these pieces in to songs. They already sounded like songs to me. Of course, there was a huge amount of editing, re-arranging, and fine-tuning to be done, but in the first instance, the songs sort of landed in my lap’
Like a modern day Randy Newman, or a Yorkshire Bacharach if you will, Lawrenson occupies the spot of band-leader with ease, conjuring up inspired arrangements that seem to call out for moving images and the hushed wonder of the cinema. The album features a staggering list of talented collaborators and guest vocalists: Jasmine Kennedy, Julianna Zachariou, Alyesha Wise, Anew Day, Ajimal, & IMOGEN.
It is an inspired collection of original works, ingenious reimaginings and reworks (magpie-ing from the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, Simeon Walker), and fresh, contemporary arrangements of classical staples (Bach, Chopin, Tchaicovsky). It’s an album that defies categorisation, hovering wonderfully between a number of pigeon- holes, like the soundtrack to the greatest film never made.