Lawrence

Known for their eclectic and hooky brand of piano- and horn-driven soul-pop, New York’s Lawrence features siblings keyboardist/songwriter Clyde Lawrence and vocalist Gracie Lawrence. Lawrence first emerged playing around New York City in 2015, and garnered fan and chart attention after issuing their 2016 EP Breakfast and 2018 full-length Living Room. Following two concert collections, The Live Album, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2, they collaborated with singer/producer Jon Bellion on 2021′s Hotel TV. The children of film director Marc Lawrence, Clyde and Gracie Lawrence grew up playing music together. Clyde started out on piano around age three, and by six had written his first song, which was included in his father’s 2000 film Miss Congeniality. Seven years later, he also wrote the music for another of his father’s projects, the Hugh Grant vehicle Music and Lyrics. Meanwhile, sister Gracie also grew up with performing in her blood, and at age 12 made her Broadway debut in a production of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs. Initially, Lawrence formed while Clyde was studying at Brown University. There, he formed a funk and soul band, which his sister Gracie joined while visiting. The siblings began writing songs together, and by 2015 had officially formed Lawrence. Live shows quickly followed, and in 2016, they issued a debut EP, Breakfast, which featured production from Eric Krasno (Lettuce/Soulive/Tedeschi Trucks Band), and included guest performances by Adam Deitch (Lettuce), Cory Henry (Snarky Puppy), and Maurice "Mobetta" Brown (Tedeschi Trucks Band). The album gained attention online, and helped build interest in the group. An acoustic version of the EP, Breakfast: Unscrambled (Acoustic Sessions), followed in 2018. Also that year, the group released their debut full-length album, Living Room, which reached the Top Ten of the digital charts. In 2019, the group toured with singer/songwriter Jon Bellion. They also released the one-off Bellion-produced single “Casualty.” While in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, they compiled many of their concert recordings and released them as The Live Album, Pt. 1 and The Live Album, Pt. 2. Signing to Bellion’s Beautiful Mind Records, Lawrence returned in July 2021 with their third full-length studio album, Hotel TV. Produced by Bellion, the album included an appearance by the singer, as well as a guest spot from Brasstracks. ~ Matt Collar