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Destination Jam: Top 5 songs by Lauv that prove he's a true pop phenomenon

Our daily Destination Jam playlist has been fine-tuned with some great Lauv selections to celebrate the singer turning 26
PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2020
Lauv (Getty Images)
Lauv (Getty Images)

The American singer-songwriter Ari Staprans Leff aka Lauv is a rising independent pop star in the international music scene and he celebrated his 26th birthday on August 8, which he shares with another pop star, Shawn Mendes. His debut album, 'How I'm Feeling' released in March this year to rave reviews and peaked at No 16 on the US Billboard 200 chart, besides rising to No 4 on Billboard's US Independent Albums chart.

The pop star was even featured on the cover of Vogue magazine on his special day, and tweeted his thanks while sharing the cover photo on Instagram. Prior to that, Lauv had also posted a birthday selfie on Instagram that showed him holding a can of IPA beer and toasting his fans. As a prolific collaborator, Lauv recently featured on Ava Max's empowering new single 'Kings & Queens Pt. 2' and has even worked with stars like DJ Snake, Troye Sivan, Alessia Cara, LANY, Julia Michaels, Anne-Marie, Sofía Reyes, and the K-pop band BTS in the past. So in honor of Lauv's amazing music thus far, let's take a look at five of his hit songs.   

Destination Jam - Lauv Edition

'I Like Me Better'



 

This multi-platinum-selling track was first released in May 2017 and was later included on Lauv's compilation album 'I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)', which dropped a year later in May 2018. As Lauv himself noted, "I wrote the song when I moved to LA, but it’s originally about when I moved to New York. I was 18. I moved here for school and was trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I fell in love for the first time. It’s that feeling of, 'Everything else is crazy in my life and I don’t really know what the f**k I’m doing, but whatever we have going on is dope.'" He also admitted he entered the recording studio with "no concept, no lyrics, no idea I was going to write that song" and was inspired by a voice memo that he left himself on his phone. It remains one of Lauv's most popular hits, peaking at No. 2 on the US Adult Top 40 Billboard chart, and garnering over 122 million views on Youtube alone.

'I'm So Tired'



 

A collaboration with the Australian music star Troye Sivan, this track first released in January 2019 and was later featured as the lead single on Lauv's debut album, 'How I'm Feeling', which released in March this year. In the song, the singers reveal that they are both trying to get over a break up with an ex, while simultaneously expressing how tired they are of sentimental love songs like Coldplay’s 'Hurts Like Heaven' and Lorde’s 'Buzzcut Season'. As Lauv revealed the track was pretty much an accidental duet, admitting "he [Sivan] just sounded too good singing it, so I think it was just natural to do the record together." It's also interesting to note that both singers released nearly identical music videos for the song, with two minor differences. Lauv's version is two seconds longer and features Troye Sivan as the driver of the car, while Lauv takes the wheel in Troye Sivan's version. Lauv's official music video has gained over 110 million views since its release on YouTube. 

'Paris In The Rain'



 

This sublime, enchanting track was included on Lauv's earlier compilation album 'I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist), which released in 2018. It features some minimalist instrumentation and Lauv's gorgeous falsetto, as he croons about how amazing it feels to be with his lover. Some romantic lines include "Getting lost late at night, under stars / Finding love standing right where we are" and "We don't need a fancy town / Or bottles that we can't pronounce / 'Cause anywhere, babe / Is like Paris in the rain." Lauv himself revealed, "'Midnight in Paris' is one of my favorite movies – I love sappy ass movies. The first time I watched it, I was like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna write a song inspired by this movie.’ And then the second time I watched the movie, that’s when I got the concept of how I was going to write it. I picked up the guitar and wrote the song." The music video currently has over 105 million views and was shot in Paris, Texas, not Paris, France as many people assume.

'Who' 



 

Lauv has collaborated with the K-pop band BTS on multiple occasions and their popular joint effort 'Who' was released in March this year, as part of his 2020 debut album, 'How I'm Feeling'. After working with BTS on their track 'Make It Right' in 2019, Lauv got the BTS members Jungkook and Jimin to return the favor on this song that features English-only vocals. He admitted, "I stumbled upon the demo for 'Who'. I sent it over, not really expecting anything, because we had already just done a collab. They ended up loving it and recording their parts [as watermarked vocals] and sending it over. Talking about the song, Lauv revealed, “The song is at once a song about heartbreak and acceptance, one where you realize the person you fell in love with has changed, and is no longer who you fell in love with at all." The pop star also admitted that the emotional track was "epic" and "one of [his] favorite songs" thus far.

'Modern Loneliness'



 

Let's round off our Lauv-fest with another lovely track called 'Modern Loneliness', which was released In February this year as the tenth and final single from his debut album, 'How I'm Feeling'. Prior to releasing the track, Lauv had revealed on his Instagram - "I’m releasing my favorite song I’ve ever made... The most important song of my career so far... It sums up everything about why I think so many of us are lonely today. It’s something I’m so proud of and I know you guys will love it." Elaborating further on the song's concept, Lauv had also admitted, "I feel like these days, I'm so used to never being alone but feeling so alone. It's so easy to feel totally isolated, even if there's people around you. I just think it's this condition that a lot of people in my generation feel." The singer definitely feels strongly about this sentiment, because he even has the phrase 'Modern Loneliness' tattooed on his arm and an episodic podcast called 'Breaking Modern Loneliness', which features discussions on human relationships, mental health, and technology. Kudos to Lauv for speaking from his heart.

Destination Jam is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained and grooving up top in lieu of feeling drained and losing the plot. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEAWW to refresh your mood every day!

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