Critically acclaimed UK DJ/Producer Louis La Roche returns with the release of his disco-pop single “Desire.”
Premiering today on Casablanca Sunset, “Desire” is the latest release from Louis’ forthcoming album, Saturday Night Griever, which is slated for release later in 2020.
The track features guest vocals from UK singer-songwriter Frankmusik, and is a radio ready single with warm uplifting melodies and soulful electronic pop tendencies. On “Desire,” Frankmusik’s vocal is accompanied by groovy synth chords, 80s-inspired guitar accents and captivating nu-disco rhythm. Louis La Roche is incredibly talented and this single does not disappoint.
In support of the release, Louis’ has kindly answered a few questions for the Casablanca Sunset blog which you can find below along with a stream of “Desire.” Enjoy!
Q&A with Louis La Roche:
Casablanca Sunset: How did the “Desire” single come together?
Louis La Roche: It’s a funny story that back in 2008, my management at the time approached Vincent’s (Frankmusik) A&R team about doing some writing together. A few emails were exchanged but ultimately nothing came of it.
Fast forward 10 years to January 2018, I receive an email from his manager asking what I’m working on and whether I’d like to do some writing. The timing could not have been better, as I’d been 8-9 months into writing a new album.
We ended up writing two songs together called “Desire” and “Always.” Both are on my upcoming album ‘Saturday Night Griever‘.
Casablanca Sunset: What does your production process look like?
Louis La Roche: “Desire” was just an instrumental for a long time. I wanted to make a Modern Pop song with a Nu Disco, 80’s influence. Most of the songs on the new album follow that same recipe. The demo I sent over to Vincent only contained the first verse and a chorus with my scratch vocals on. I often do that to give the singer an idea of how I feel the vocal melody should go. In fact, if you listen carefully to the ‘yeahs’ of the chorus, my vocal is still hidden in there somewhere, haha. Vincent knew exactly where to take it, and wrote all these amazing lyrics, harmonies and beautiful melodies. From there, we wrote the second verse, middle 8 and ad-libs, and that was pretty much it!
Casablanca Sunset: Very cool! Do you usually start with a vocal or start with the instrumentation?
Louis La Roche: 9 times out of 10 if I’m writing with someone new, I’ll send over some instrumental ideas first, just to see what they like. I just find it’s the easiest way to get the best performance out of someone. If they’re not into what they write to, what’s the point? I’d rather them be really excited about the track and take it from there. If I can tap into their tastes, then that’s a bonus. There’s a song on the album called ‘Lights’ that was written completely the other way around. I asked Brent of the duo 8 Graves, to write me a spoken word poem. I gave him some pointers about what to speak about, and left him to it. Once he sent over his recording of him speaking, I wrote an entire song around his vocal. It turned out amazing!
Casablanca Sunset: Who are some of your musical inspirations?
Louis La Roche: For this album in particular, I was listening to a lot of 80’s Synthpop like Yazoo, Prince & Imagination. But also Modern Pop like Ariana Grande, Louis Cole & The 1975. I love mixing up genres, but trying to find a way to make it all work together. I spend quite a bit of time reading up on old production techniques and sounds. It’s important for me to sound fresh but somehow familiar at the same time. There’s artists out there that want to sound super futuristic, and artists trying to sound like the 70’s/80’s/90’s. I think there’s a lack of people trying to do both, so that’s what I try to achieve.
Casablanca Sunset: How would you describe the Louis La Roche sound to someone that has never listened to your music before?
Louis La Roche: I’m ever evolving but at the moment I’d say Electronic Pop music with a shot of nostalgia. Sometimes I lean on more RnB, House or Funk. I keep it groovy, but I never like to do the same thing twice.
Casablanca Sunset: What’s your dream collaboration?
Louis La Roche: I’d love to get Damon Albarn on something Disco. I just love his writing and his voice. If not him, maybe Jarvis Cocker, again he just has such an iconic voice. Ah Britpop…haha.
Casablanca Sunset: Plans for 2020?
Louis La Roche: The album is looking like it’ll drop in March. After that I’ve got a film I’m putting out in the summer and also a side project coming out too. I love to keep busy, I’ve spent 3 years between albums, so I’m sitting on a lot of unreleased music at the moment! Other than that, I’m putting a lot of focus on my record label Ever After. I’ve been signing a lot of people recently, so I can’t wait for people to hear what we’re cooking up.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions and look forward to hearing more from you down the road!
For more on Louis La Roche and his upcoming music be sure to check out his website here.