Larkly is a singer-songwriter based in Germany. She has released her first four singles in 2024. Larkly has been singing for most of her life while working as a filmmaker for documentaries. A few years ago, she decided it was time to publish her own music and finished up some songs she had been working on for years.
Larkly has been influenced by jazz/pop singers such as Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones and Katie Melua. That is why she feels most comfortable in the English language. Her songs are about her own experiences, growing self-confidence and empowerment. She chose to name herself after a lark because she thinks they have a lot in common. Larkly loves the morning hours to be creative and she also likes the idea of a tiny bird with a large voice.
There is part of me that loves jazz—late-night jazz! I have always thought that I would travel back to the age of the American jazz age President (Warren Harding) and slide into one of those 1920’s jazz clubs, drink some illegal hooch and listen to some smooth jazz. Larkly would do nicely as the singer! We loved her single “Down With My Dress” that we reviewed here, which has now had 3.5k + streams on Spotify.
With her new single, “Monster,” out now, she has delivered a run of four singles of consistent interest and style, and it was time to say hello! “Monster” brings the monster within us to a powerhouse of a track, plenty of power vocals and drum rhythms. She’s an imaginative lyricist and the track has a confident rock feel somewhere in the mix. It’s distinctively different from her earlier releases, another mature work that I would love to hear on the radio.
We began by asking Larkly if she always had a definite release order for the singles and noted our liking for “Down with my Dress.”
Larkly: “Down with my Dress” was the first song that I wrote, maybe seven years ago, and so it evolved over time. It was a song I started writing, but then it wasn’t really finished, and it became the first to release as it seemed like the right one. I also like to start my gigs with it; I feel like this one is the one I am most comfortable with. I liked in your review how the reviewer picked up on the dialogue I have with myself within the song. That is what it is; when friends ask me, I use experiences in my music and there will always be some truth in there. In this song, it was a part of me that I may not like so much; there is an alcohol connection and that was hard to put in a song, but nice when it is out there, it works. I say that the other ones I was never clear as to the order they would be released in; they fell in place. “Just Amy” was released on the anniversary of the day Amy Winehouse died because that was the day when I started to think about the lyrics. Also, it depended on how long the directors for the music videos were taking. The last music video, “Monsters,” is airing on Halloween night; that one was the most challenging as it incorporates a whole dance crew. Sometimes the directors were ambitious for their plans for the video and I would have to wait until they were done.
“Monster” does seem appropriate for Halloween. We wondered if this was a festival that Larkly enjoyed.
Larkly: Not as a child. In Germany, you didn’t do all the dressing up. But now it is catching up more with the US.
Of course, in writing we can write about things we imagine and have never experienced. Also, as we get older, we experience more and have more personal experiences to draw upon.
Larkly: I would say that every one of my songs has some personal connection, but then I mix it up with other things, but there is always a message there within the song. Also, I think that my second profession alongside music is doing documentaries and that is always a huge pool of experiences, people you meet and things that you learn that also get put in the lyrics too.
Did Larkly always want to do music, or did she find music through her work in filmmaking?
Larkly: When I was younger, I had to decide which of my passions I would go for first. I quickly knew that I wanted to do the documentary work first. I wanted to build on my love of storytelling and I did try to write stories, but it was not my path to write books. I went for journalism first, as music seemed to be so hard. I was singing in a professional group when I was seventeen and I saw how hard life was. Some of the others were teachers and they lacked time for the music, so I moved towards journalism and studied journalism and politics. I always had a strong feeling for justice and where something was wrong in society. I saw I had a talent for telling stories—my stories and those of others. I went to documentaries where I could take the time to tell the stories of others; it doesn’t have to be news but it has to be where someone has something interesting to share. I realised that it was similar with documentaries and music; it was about being authentic. You show something of yourself, share something of yourself or it won’t work. I know that in music, where I am open and share with my audience, then they will come forward and tell me they have experienced something similar, and they thank me. So, the two professions are closely connected, but it didn’t seem that way in the beginning.
Larkly has great depth and flexibility in her music. We said at the start of this article that she is a jazz performer, but an earlier single, “Number,” moves more into pop territory and “Monster” is not jazz!
Larkly: “When I was sixteen, a lot of girls wanted to sound like Beyonce and that type of music, but I always wanted to sound like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday. Also, German pop was listened to a lot by friends, but I didn’t really want to sound like them. I wanted to sound more like those classic jazz singers, so the first ten years of singing I was in several big bands and jazz combos and that helped form my style. But “Number” is very poppy. My husband wrote part of that and he is more into rock and pop; I think he influenced that number a lot. He obviously feels that is the best song I have done, but that is the most pop I have done.
On “Number,” Larkly is dancing along to it on the video, and it is a danceable number, but then the music can go quite dark too; “Monster” is a darker track.
Larkly: I don’t think it’s dark as such; maybe the music video is… It is more of a break-free song and the one I like to play most when I am going to a session or playing somewhere. I had a bullying experience some years back where a friend, or someone I thought was a friend, turned out to be definitely not a friend, but someone who felt I was standing in her way. She changed and became very mean and that hurt me a lot. If you let someone get close to you, then they have the ability to hurt you, and that is what I wrote “Monster” about. My feelings about the experience changed over time and I wonder now if it made me stronger. That is “Monster,” an experience that is hurtful but can make you stronger too. On the video are the dancers and they are all in black. The idea is that the dancers are the monsters and I am in the middle, passive, and not looking for trouble. The monsters are surrounding me, but at the end it does provide a happy ending.
How is Larkly evaluating things after the four singles? Is she watching her social media, looking at those attending live events, watching for media interest? How does she evaluate her progression?
Larkly: I seem to be very popular in Finland; I’m not sure why! For me, a lot of times if my music has a wider reach, then I am happy. I watch Instagram, as my experience is that the people who follow me on Instagram tend to be very loyal and stick to it. Sometimes they will turn up to concerts and even follow to other cities to see a show. I have seen that on YouTube people will watch the videos, but maybe they are more inclined to watch a cover and not watch an original from me. I have one cover with fifteen thousand views, and more than fifty people commented underneath so there was engagement. But the moment when you realise that there is progression and you are doing better is with the live shows; then if someone is showing emotion after the show because your music has touched them, then that is rewarding. But, specifically for growth, I probably watch my Instagram. Someone I know just did her first release and she took another approach, having a company manage her release. She paid them and now has 35k listens on Spotify and 10k plus on her YouTube videos, but if you look around the videos, there is no interaction. If you really look at some of these figures, are they just numbers?
We, as a magazine, get emails by the day from people wanting us to pay for ‘numbers.’ But we prefer to build numbers slowly from real readers, not from AI bots that inflate artificial numbers. We guess the same in music. AI is very present in the music business, both positively and negatively.
Larkly: I agree. First, I look at some artists and think about how they are getting all these figures suddenly, all these listens suddenly. But are they real? Are people really watching and listening? So maybe it is better to build slowly with real people. Those who follow me on Instagram will often comment on the videos or the pictures; they interact; they are not AI bots! I get connections and supporters.
We like Instagram too; we have an Instagram account (rock_the_joint_magazine) and are on Twitter and Threads, but came off Facebook as it attracted an unpleasant troll.
Larkly: I have to have a Facebook page as I am an artist, but it does seem to attract mean people. I also use TikTok, but I know that if I sit in Spain and post myself sitting on a beach playing guitar, then that one will get loads of views because I am on a beach. But on Instagram, I can talk about my songs more. I can tell you on Instagram how I came to write the song and that will go well on Instagram but far less well on TikTok. On TikTok, they don’t care; they just want to see me on the beach. They don’t care about the music.
What is happening gig-wise for you at the moment?
Larkly: I have my own band now and we are playing clubs, but it is harder now I have a band as it is more expensive. What I feel is that you need the followers online so then you can show the club that you have the audience; you get the bookings as they see there is an audience there. That does put you under pressure to get the numbers. But if it’s too high and looks unreal, then that is self-defeating.
We noted the release of “Monster” was Friday, November 1.
Larkly: Yes, we seem to release music on Fridays; I don’t really know why. The video came out just before so it hit Halloween. Ongoing, I’m so happy with my live band, and so the plan next year is to get out playing clubs. I have two more songs that I am dying to record, but they have been waiting for me to complete this run of releases first. There will also be another music video as the choreographer of “Monster” is on fire; she is looking forward to doing another dance video.
And lastly, who has Larkly been listening to lately?
Larkly: I have been listening to Olivia Rodrego while I am jogging as she energises me!
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Stream music from Larkly here
Artist website here
By Mark C. Chambers
and
Lorraine Foley
