London-based DJ, producer and songwriter Lou Hayter announces new single ‘3AM’, from forthcoming new album Unfamiliar Skin. The single arrives on all platforms 4th September via Greco-Roman, with the album due to follow on the 4th of October.
Hot on the heels of simmering disco cut ‘In My Heart’, and singles ‘Stop The Rain’ and ‘Frequency’, which received widespread support from the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Huw Stephens and Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft and Gilles Peterson, not to mention a roadblock DJ set at Glastonbury earlier this summer, Lou Hayter is already having quite the year.
Returning with another tantalising peek at the diggers delight of sonic touchpoints on forthcoming album Unfamiliar Skin, ‘3AM’ switches up a gear from its sultry disco predecessor, this time embracing a spectrum of house references. From the propulsive finger snaps and piano break of classic NY house to the subtle bubble of an acid line as the track closes, we are treated to a delicious mellow groove that in combination with Lou’s ice cool vocal delivery, give ‘3AM’ a seductive deep-cut energy. An essential late-night bumper from an artist who continues to surprise and delight.
Lou Hayter on 3AM:
“This song is exactly what it says in the lyrics. I was wide awake at 3am and sang this into my phone, which happens to me a lot in the night. Then when I made it the next day I felt inspired by things like ‘Too Blind to See It’, produced by Steve Silk Hurley, which was a big tune when I was a kid. These crossover house records have a very special place in my heart as a place and time in my life. I collected house records all through my teens from Masters at Work, Mood 2 Swing etc., so I was thinking of those when I made it”.
From starting out DJing at 19, to breaking through as keyboard player for Mercury-nominated band New Young Pony Club, to her critically acclaimed debut album Private Sunshine (‘Album of the Day’ on 6 Music, ‘Annie Mac single of the week’ on Radio 1), Lou Hayter is an artist who has been turning heads with her distinctive musical brand for some years.
A prominent face at the intersection of cutting-edge music, art and style – Lou regularly soundtracks events for the likes of Chanel, Miu Miu and Gucci as well as playing the world’s most respected dancefloors from Glastonbury to Pikes Ibiza to Drumsheds in London, and counts Air’s Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Hot Chip amongst her list of musical collaborators.
Now signed to Greco-Roman and with the arrival of her second studio album Unfamiliar Skin, Lou steps into new territory as the sole writer, producer and performer of the album. Her signature sound brims with the hallmarks of an expansive record collection and a DJ’s knowledge: modern electro soul, 80’s R&B, colourful electronics and knowing nods to New York disco and proto-house shine throughout her work.