London-based artist Laura Misch has announced her debut album Sample The Sky, will drop on October 13th via One Little Independent Records (Bjork). Misch’s album is an ode care, connection and listening to the natural world. ‘Sample The Sky’ responds to nature’s patterns through organic electronic productions, embodied lyrics, wind inspired saxophone, singing and synthesis all woven into intricately crafted left-field pop songs. Today, the multi-artist has shared a video for “Listen to the Sky.”

“Portals” communicates a particularly profound moment in Laura’s life. “During lockdown I was living with my family and grandparents. My granddad, who was 94, got really ill and passed away at home in his bed, surrounded by my mum, gran and me. We were all looking after him, and it was a period of time where the world was in chaos and the care felt intensified, but also it was a real honor to be able to be there and give that much attention to this process. It was a very organic death. The moment he left his body it was like he went from being there to being everywhere. That’s what this song is about, on some level it’s about a portal into the unknown. He was such a green-fingered person and believed so much in returning to the earth, and the interconnectedness of everything, and that we’re made up of elements that will one day become everything else.”

She says that the accompanying video “is about sensing the natural world, feeling connected to the elements from the sky to the snails, and dancing with it, knowing that I’ll eventually return to the earth. It was made with care and woven together by many friends’ creations, from Tobby Wu’s five-meter floral hair braid to Chantel Foo’s insect inspired dance choreo”.

A departure from her previous, more isolated bedroom-produced work, Laura opened up every aspect of the process to her South London creative community. This ranges from guest musicians and field recordists to painters, florists, dancers and tapestry makers. Though some songs had been years in the making, the catalyst for the record’s crystallisation was a year-long collaboration with composer and producer William Arcane, whose “synth wizardry” caught Laura’s ears. Every sound on the record has been played, synthesised or recorded from scratch, shaping it into its near final form before weaving in performances from Laura’s recently formed live band; Marysia Osu on harp and Tomáš Kašpar on guitar.

The album’s title and meaning stems partly from Laura’s journey from studying biomedical sciences at university to becoming an electronic music producer, she says; “I’ve always found parallels between biomed and music, a microphone is a microscope of sound, and a studio is laboratory of distillation, producing feels like you’re discovering, it feels akin to uncovering in science, ‘Sample The Sky’ felt like a meeting between these two worlds, to study a ‘sample’ is to gather and look deeply, whilst the ‘sky’ symbolises our interconnectedness to nature”.

Laura Misch 2023 Tour Dates

05.28 – Stroud, UK – Jazz Stroud
07.12 – Montreux, CH – Montreux Jazz Festival
10.31 – Vienna, AT – B72
11.01 – Zurich, CH – JazznoJazz Festival,
11.02 – Lausanne, CH – EspaceJazz / Casino de Montbenon
11.04 – Milan, IT – Arci Bellezza
11.07 – Madrid, ESP – Moby Dick
11.08 – Barcelona, ESP – Razzmatazz
11.10 – Warsaw, PL – BARdzo
11.11 – Prague, CZ – Cafe V Lese
11.12 – Cologne, DE – MCT
11.13 – Paris, FR – Point Ephemere
11.14 – Brussels, BE – Botanique Witloofbar
11.16 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso (upstairs)
11.18 – Berlin, DE – Berghain
11.19 – Hamburg, DE – Hebebühne
11.20 – Copenhagen, DE – Ideal Bar @ Vega
11.22 – Stockholm, SE – Stadsgardsterminalen
11.23 – Oslo, NO – Blaa
11.25 – Lisbon, PT – Super Bock em Stock
12.04 – Glasgow, UK – King Tuts
12.05 – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
12.06 – Newcastle, UK – Gateshead
12.07 – Bristol, UK – Thekla
12.09 – Cardiff, UK – Clwb (main room)
12.10 – Southampton, UK – Joiners
12.11 – Brighton, UK – Concorde
12.12 – London, UK – Earth (Theatre)

Pre-order Sample The Sky by Laura Misch HERE