Laura Fares, known as LAU or Lau Fares (born February 14, 1978, Buenos Aires) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer from Argentina, and currently based in Barcelona (Spain), after 21 years in the United Kingdom. She is also the founder of

Aztec Records Aztec Records is an independent British record label. It specialises in electronic and pop music, in the subgenres of Synthpop, Synthwave and Retrowave following the music and pop culture of the 80s. It was founded in 2010 by Laura Fares and A ...

with Ariel Amejeiras.

Biography

Self taught as a drummer and guitarist from the age of 17, she formed her first music band in Argentina, called Isis. Based in the UK between 1999 and 2020, LAU studied music at City & Islington College and got a degree in Popular Music Performance at the London College of Music & Media, through Thames Valley University and Drumtech. Soon after finishing her degree, LAU went off on tour as a session drummer for different pop stars like

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and others, opening for artists like

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and

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. She became a songwriter simultaneously and was first published by Oval Music, funded by legendary BBC Radio

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and mentored by BBC music composer David Lowe. She was co-founder of Disco Damage in 2007, and professional DJ since 2008. She set up independent Synthpop/synthwave record label

in 2010 with her friend Ariel Amejeiras, where she is the Creative Director. Synthpop/synthwave is a sub-genre determined by modern electronic music and nostalgia for the pop culture of the 80s. The label has developed and released artists such as

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NINA Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

, Sunglasses Kid, Bunny X and many others. In 2010 LAU teamed up with

to write two albums: ''Sleepwalking'' and ''Synthian'', which took them on several tours around the world, including opening for

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in 2014 on their Violet Flame Tour in the United States. The duo also co-wrote a song called "The Wire", which was remixed by

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and had

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featuring on it. The writing duo also remixed five tracks from the ''Drive'' soundtrack by

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, released by

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in 2020. The duo also appeared in the London movie premiere for ''

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'', where their songs were used.

Solo career

In 2020 LAU launched her solo project as a retrowave/synthpop singer and songwriter and released four singles, ahead of her debut album 'Believer' released in February 2021. LAU's debut album includes

Synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

, Retrowave and

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tracks with a heavy 80s influence, and talks about a bad breakup, moving on from a past relationship and believing in herself after so many years behind other artists, as mentioned on ''Billboard''. LAU's second studio album 'Circumstance' was released on February 14, 2022, and includes tracks produced by Brian Skeel, Ends 84, TAKTA, Popcorn Kid, Saint Innocent and her own version of the

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classic 'True Colors', produced by Zak Vortex. The album talks about the uncertainty of a distant relationship and falling in love in the times of pandemic, as she explained on

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

. The album includes

, Retrowave and

Nu-Disco Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in the late 1970s disco, synthesizer-heavy 1980s European dance music styles, and early 1990s electronic dance music. The genre was popular in the early 2000s, and exp ...

songs. In 2022 LAU's track 'Stunning' was used on the "Frozen Flowers"

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ad campaign, featuring

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. That same year LAU was selected by industry experts as one of the 76 artists chosen for Keychange, a European programme that promotes and empowers women and gender minorities in the music industry. That same year, LAU's album 'Believer' was nominated for the Spanish MIN awards in these categories: Best Album, Best Artist, Song of the Year, Best Producer and Best Graphic Design.

Awards

Amazon Music BIME Equity Awards 2022 (Best Song) - Finalist MIN Awards 2021 and 2022 (Best Song and Best Album) - Nominated Give Her Your Love (Best Music Video) 2022 Winner: International Queer Film Festival 2022 Winner: PARAI Musical International Awards 2022 Winner: Bluez Dolphins International Short Film Fest 2022 Official Selection: Black Panther International Short Film Festival 2022 Official Selection: Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival 2022 Official Selection: Madrid Indie Film Festival 2022 Official Selection: Brighton Rocks Film Festival 2022 Official Selection: Buenos Aires International Film Festival 2022 Official Selection: Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2022 Official Selection: Prague International Film Awards

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

* 2020: "Stunning" * 2020: "We Had Magic" * 2020: "Recognise" * 2020: "True" * 2021: "The Cards" * 2021: "True Colors" (with Zak Vortex) * 2021: "Undecided" * 2021: "Give Her Your Love" * 2021: "What To Do" * 2022: "Instant Sunshine" * 2022: “Shout” (with LLUVA) * 2022: “Walk Away” (with Space Tourist) * 2023: “Maneater” (with R3ZMA) * 2023: "Wicked Game" (with The Last Concorde) * 2024: "Laser Eyes" (with AKRAS) * 2024: "Drifting Away" (with AKRAS) * 2024: "The Storm" * 2024: "Physical Attraction" * 2025: "La Vida En Miami (Original Music from VICE UNDERCOVER Game)" * 2025: "The King of Miami (Original Music from VICE UNDERCOVER Game)"

As featured artist

* 2020: "Get Up" (Jordan F feat. NINA and LAU) * 2020: "Free Forever" (Popcorn Kid & LAU) * 2021: "Bad Thing" (Sight Telma Club & LAU) * 2021: "Drown Your Sorrow" (Maxx Parker & LAU) * 2021: "Never" (Syntronix & LAU) * 2021: "The Waves" (LLUVA & LAU) * 2021: “We Gave It A Try” (Popcorn Kid & LAU) * 2022: “Impossible Love” (LLUVA & LAU) * 2022: “Galaxy” (EhRah & LAU) * 2022: “Give Me A Sign” (EhRah & LAU) * 2022: “Find Love” (Jessy Mach & LAU) * 2022: “Irracional” (The Broken Flowers Project & LAU) - in Spanish * 2024: "Works Of Art" (EhRah, LAU & Lafanki) * 2024: "Electrified" (Bunny X, LAU & Fulvio Colasanto) * 2024: "Everything I Want" (EhRah & LAU)

Albums

As lead artist

*2021: ''Believer'' *2021: ''Believer (Deluxe)'' *2022: ''Circumstance'' *2022: ''Circumstance (The Remixes)'' *2023: ''Circumstance (Take Two)'' *2024: ''Digital Dream'' *2025: ''Digital Dream (Remixes)''

As featured artist

* 2018: ''Sleepwalking'' (NINA feat. LAU) * 2020: ''Synthian'' (NINA feat. LAU) * 2020: ''Synthian (The Remixes)'' (NINA feat. LAU) * 2020: ''Control'' EP (NINA feat. LAU)

References

External links

Interview Forgedinneon

Aztec Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fares, Laura Synthwave musicians Alumni of City and Islington College Argentine women singer-songwriters Argentine singer-songwriters 1978 births Living people Argentine drummers English-language singers from Argentina