Lauren Auder (born 1998) is a British-French singer-songwriter and record producer. Born in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and raised in the French town of

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, she began her career producing for underground French and English rap artists. Auder signed to True Panther Sounds and made her solo debut in 2018 with the EP ''Who Carry's You'', which was followed by the EP ''Two Caves In'' in 2020. Her debut album, ''The Infinite Spine'', was released on 18 July 2023.

Life and career

2015–2016: Early years and career beginnings

Auder was born in

, near London, where she lived until the age of seven when she moved with her

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

parents to

, France to avoid the "hectic and expensive lifestyle" of London. At the time of their migration, her mother worked at ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', while her father worked at ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

''. She revealed in 2015, at the age of seventeen, that she was doing literary studies in Albi. In 2015, Auder began working with artists in the London underground hip hop scene such as Lord Pusswhip, Jeshi and

Slowthai Tyron Kaymone Frampton (born 18 December 1994), better known by his stage name Slowthai (stylised in lowercase), is a British rapper. Raised in Northampton, he rose to popularity in 2019 for his gritty and rough instrumentals and raw, Music and ...

, while also self-publishing content onto

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

on the side. During this period of her early career, Daisy Jones of ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

'' wrote, "With erwoozy, far-away vocals and dreamy, half-baked beats, the 17-year-old French-English producer sounds like

King Krule Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer. He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The foll ...

if hegot heavily into hip hop and pushed ermusic through a coedine-coated seive." After graduating from high school in September 2016, she returned to London shortly after signing to independent record label True Panther Sounds.

2017–2018: ''Who Carry's You''

In December 2017, Auder made her professional solo debut under True Panther Sounds with the single "The Baptist" which was inspired by

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

and received acclaim from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''. This was followed by her second single "These Broken Limbs Again Into One Body" in February 2018. Both singles would feature on her debut EP ''Who Carry’s You'', which was released in March 2018. In October 2018, she accompanied

Christine and the Queens Rahim Claude Redcar (sometimes shortened to Chris or Redcar; born Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier; 1 June 1988) is a French singer and songwriter, best known under the pseudonym of Christine and the Queens. Born and raised in Nantes, he started ...

on their tour of Europe supporting the album ''

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

'' (2018).

2019–2020: ''Two Caves In''

Supported by the singles "June 14th" and "Meek", Auder's second EP ''Two Caves In'' was released in March 2020. In September 2020, Auder and Boston-based producer Mmph provided American band

Haim Haim can be a first name or surname originating in Hebrew or derived from the Old German name Haimo. Etymology Hebrew Chayyim ( ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim, Hayim, Chayim'', or ''Chaim'' (English pronunciat ...

a remix version of the song " Summer Girl" by for their titular remix EP. In December 2020, Auder and American singer-songwriter

Caroline Polachek Caroline Elizabeth Polachek (born June 20, 1985) is an American singer, producer, and songwriter. Raised in Connecticut, Polachek cofounded the indie pop band Chairlift while studying at the University of Colorado. The duo emerged from the late- ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song " Some Small Hope" by Virginia Astley.

2021–present: ''5 Songs for the Dysphoric''

Auder released her third EP, ''5 Songs for the Dysphoric'', in February 2021. Her first album ''The Infinite Spine'' was released on 18 July 2023.

Artistry

Auder is a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

vocalist. Daisy Jones of

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

described her musical style as

orchestral pop Orchestral pop is pop music that has been arranged and performed by a symphonic orchestra. It is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms symphonic pop and chamber pop. History During the 1960s, pop music on radio and in both American and ...

. Steve Janes of WithGuitars.com wrote that she "adopt the ethos of classic era

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

to fuse elements of

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

with

modern classical Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial music, elect ...

, ambient and experimental electronics." Auder cites French composer

and California rap duo Main Attrakionz as some of her biggest musical influences, while also being inspired by romantic poets such as

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

Personal life

In September 2019, Auder came out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

. She used they pronouns up until August 2020 when she began publicly identifying as a woman. She told '' i-D'': "In a lot of ways I’ve known forever, and in other ways I’ve known since I was 12, and in other ways I’m only just figuring it out, but I’m way more in touch with myself and how I feel and who I want to be ..I think it’s made me more confident and aware of myself. That transition in my life, and becoming an adult, has gone hand in hand with the way I present my work.” As of October 2020, Auder resides in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

in England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auder, Lauren Living people 1998 births British emigrants to France Transgender songwriters Art pop musicians Baroque pop musicians English record producers French record producers English women singer-songwriters French women singer-songwriters People from Albi English transgender women French transgender musicians French transgender women French LGBTQ singers English LGBTQ singers French LGBTQ songwriters English LGBTQ songwriters LGBTQ record producers 21st-century English women singers Musicians from Watford Transgender women singers