Laumė (fka MADEIRA) Bad Humors
About
Laumė (fka MADEIRA)
Pain is unavoidable. Hurt is a hurdle of unknowable difficulty. MADEIRA’s Bad Humors is about dealing with those problems by letting go of negative thoughts and embracing the wealth of positive possibilities. After touring the world with Yumi Zouma, the group she co-founded, Kim Pflaum left the band and moved to the seaside city of Auckland, New Zealand. The transition gave her plenty to write about. Thus, Pflaum started writing songs as MADEIRA, a solo project that began years earlier. New to Auckland, she spent her time songwriting—a way to figure out the past to make sense of the future.
The result is Bad Humors, a collection of brilliantly composed songs featuring irresistible melodies and lucid production. It’s a rich blend of electronic pop encompassing late night ballads like the comedown closer “Parquet” and the sunset party of “Let Me Down.” The latter track received acclaim as a single on Ryan Hemsworth’s Secret Songs label. The grooves on Bad Humors take their shape from a new pop twist on the tropical disco of Balearic beat. Though there is a sense of dark territory, MADEIRA also projects serenity. “Come On Thru” is an appropriate opener, an earworm plea to understand changing loyalties, and “trying to move on but don’t want to.” But the song’s protagonist breaks ties to realize they’re better off.
The EP’s title comes from the ancient medical practice of bloodletting, which was a method of draining blood with the intent that bad feelings, emotions, “humors,” would also leave the body. Pflaum noticed this procedure mirrored the process of making the MADEIRA songs. “I created these songs to make sense of the painful experiences they deal with,” Pflaum says. “By completing and releasing the songs, I feel I am somewhat ridding myself of what has been ailing me, letting go.”
Artist Bio
Laumė (fka MADEIRA)
New Zealand-born songwriter Kim Pflaum professes “My creations are like my children,” while discussing the process behind her synth-pop recording project, Laumė (rhymes with Pflaum). This January, Pflaum will deliver her aptly-titled new LP, Waterbirth, by way of Carpark Records, finally sharing her most complex and infectious body of work to date. Laumė’s Waterbirth is a musically and lyrically-rich full length, inspired by Pflaum’s growing consciousness and the sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s golden age of pop.
After her tenure fronting the NZ four-piece Yumi Zouma, Pflaum began developing some of the personal writing and recordings she had been working on alone. Her natural talent for alluring vocal melodies and dreamy production gave way to her first solo release under the name MADEIRA, Bad Humors. The EP is made up of shimmering guitars, angelic harmonies, and a grooving rhythm section, which culminate into songs about hurt, heartbreak, and moving on. Following the release of Bad Humors, Pflaum decided to rename her project Laumė (inspired by eastern European folklore) and had a stint in London, where her songwriting began a new period of incubation.
Over the course of nearly three years, Pflaum wrote and recorded material for Waterbirth everywhere she had the space to–from Okie Dokie studio in Auckland, to flats around London, to even a train across Poland. “Slowly, track by track, it became a bigger project,” Pflaum recalls. During a point in her life where she began refocusing her attention from her own interpersonal conflicts to the complexities of the world around her, she began writing songs with a grander scope. Pflaum traveled to eastern Europe in an effort to learn more about her ancestry firsthand, and also started examining the darker parts of her psyche. Throughout the process, Pflaum joined forces with Rude Jude, whose knowledge as a producer and arsenal of electronic instruments helped shape the sound and tone of Waterbirth. These new discoveries led Pflaum to start questioning human nature and its nuances in her writing. Her darker and more existential lyrics cast a shadow on Laumė’s typically bright hooks in the new songs she wrote. Slowly as the two worked together, each song they crafted would reinforce the record’s sonic and lyrical duality.
Since the project’s conception, Laumė has performed alongside acts like Tanukichan, Kid Trails, and Corbu, and has collaborated with artists like Boycrush (NZ), Brett (US), Swimgood (CAN), and Zimmer (France). As her creative practice has evolved and expanded, so has her ability to learn more about herself through her work. With Waterbirth, Laumė has cultivated a vast range of musical ideas and inspirations to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Hi-res TIFF album art:
Photos by: Garth Badger
Marketing Info
PRESS CONTACTS
North America: erint@grandstandhq.com
Europe: andy@carparkrecords.com
BAD HUMORS
• North American publicity by Grandstand
• College radio promotion by Terrorbird
• EP pressed on violet vinyl
• Former Yumi Zouma frontwoman’s solo debut
• Vinyl includes free digital download
UPCs
EP: 677517011616
CD: 677517011623
Digital: 677517011654
Tracklist
1. Come On Thru
2. Let Me Down
3. Manipulator
4. Oracle/Horoscope
5. Parquet