One beautiful day a few years ago a Brooklyn-based duo, Ex Cops, of the singer-songwriter, Amalie Bruun, and the vocalist-instrumentalist-writer, Brian Harding invited LP to write and sing a couple of lines on their song, “Wanna Be.” And she did. Her part is short, but what an intense, deep vocal she layed for it!
LP and Amalie Bruun, photo courtesy of Amalie Bruun and Ex Cops
Ex Cops’ music is full of contradictions. Sugary vocals mixed with non-random lyrics, the synth-driven sound is vintage yet modern, danceable yet contemplative, pop yet indie. It is reminiscent of various mainstream bands from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Those influences are obvious and there’s no surprise to read what they told to Interview Magazine: “Two of our favorite albums are The White Album by the Beatles (1968) and Michael Jackson’s, Dangerous (1991).”
As for the song “Wanna Be” ft. LP, it’s definitely a track that stands out and, to us, it’s the best composition from the albums’ tracklist. LP’s part is a bit like a stirring melo-recitation, something between singing softly and speaking passionately. There is a nice depth in LP’s interpretation of the lines:
I like just looking at you is what you say to me,
I like just looking at you just before you fall asleep.
I like just looking at you, sometimes babe I can’t believe…
Femmemusic.com described the song as “a love song about the love that sneaks up on you.” The duo was enthusiastic about having worked with LP. They mentioned her in various interviews, always referring to her as “so cool.” In one of them, given to A Music Blog, Yea?, Ex Cops briefly described the writing process of Daggers:
Amalie Bruun: It was a long process – I live in Denmark and wrote some stuff, and Brian lives in upstate New York and he wrote some stuff, and afterwards we came together and wrote some stuff. Magically, we got Billy Corgan involved and went to Chicago with him and started to record demos there. We spent a month in LA afterwards to record all of these demos, and we also did two songs there with Ariel Pink and this girl, LP, who is a great singer.
A Music Blog, Yea?: I’ve interviewed her before and she’s great.
Amalie Bruun: She’s wonderful.
Okay, check out how wonderful, exactly.