Introduction
Kelsey McJunkins, known professionally as Kelsey Lu, is a singer, songwriter and cellist based in Los Angeles, California.
Early life
Kelsey Lu was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 12, 1991 and had a strict education of Jehovah's Witnesses. Lu's two parents are musicians: her father is a percussionist, her mother a pianist and she used to give them serenades with Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Lu began studying classical composition at age 6, learning piano, violin and cello.
Before movingto New York City At 18, Kelsey left her family's home to attend the University of North Carolina School of Arts on a scholarship.
Career
Kelsey recorded her debut EP, Church, at a church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. During this time, she toured with the Wet band as her opening act. She launched Church in 2016, produced byPatrick Wimberly (Chairlift) and through True Panther, proving that she already had the power of melody and alchemy, combining her cello with loop pedals and her warm but powerful voice that made the stained glass vibrate, in addition. Since then, she has been working with artists such as Solange, Blood Orange, Florence + The Machine, Oneohtrix Point Never, Kelela and Sampha, while their sound matured a little more.
At the end of 2018, she returned with a song called "Shades of Blue," which accompanied by the version of I'm Not In Love by the rock band, 10cc, released this week, showed that Kelsey Lu continues evolving at her own pace, where instead of creating classical variations with gospel elements, she now manages to approach a sumptuous dream pop, with songs that seem to transform as we listen to them, and where her classical formation develops in a tangle of hypnotizing rhythms.
Lu released her debut album, Blood, on Columbia Records on April 19, 2019. About the album, Lu said: "Blood is a recognition of Pain, Horror and Beauty to find the ability to observe everything to move through it. We live to die another day and in the end we have the hope of what is to come or not, and finally we make love while we do it. "
On May 23 of the same year, a remix of "Due West", along with DJ, music producer, singer and eight-time Grammy winning, Skrillex was released.
Influences
Among her influences are classics such as Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, a bit of Thelonious Monk, Etta James and Billie Holiday, before she got in touch with the pop and rock of Paul Simon and Led Zeppelin, respectively.
Discography
- Studio Albums
- Blood (2019, Columbia)
- EPs
- Church (2016, True Panther Sounds)
- Remix
- Due West (Skrillex Remix)