Philadelphia artist Autumn Luz is preparing to release her debut album ‘Moments’, a seven-song record drawn from another particularly productive period of writing.

The finished songs are much rougher around the edges than those early demos. Longtime producer samwe helped pull them away from their cleaner piano-and-voice beginnings, while composer and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Gnat and members of Luz’s live band also became part of the process. Samantha Rosen mixed the album and worked closely with Luz on the vocals. ‘Cobalt’, out September 24, began with chords written by Matthew Gnat. Autumn wrote most of the lyrics soon afterwards, while the arrangement continued to change during recording. The video also gives her a chance to draw on her background in dance.

We spoke with Autumn about making ‘Moments’, working with samwe and the musicians around her, strange sounds that make it into the recordings, and how much has changed since ‘Heat’ appeared in 2022.

“The fire is roaring now, and I have a lot to cook with it.”

Your earlier EP, ‘Fragments’, was whittled down from something like 30 or 40 demos. Did ‘Moments’ grow out of that same period of writing?

‘Moments’ came from a subsequent lot of demos from another abundant period of writing. I think this lot had a higher rate of good ones in it, which meant that we were full up on album picks before samwe even got to hear any demos from 2024 or later.

When you first had these songs together, did you already see ‘Moments’ as being about love and relationships, or did that become clearer later?

At first this was another collection of seemingly random songs that samwe chose. The exception was the title track, which fully exposes that theme you’re mentioning. That title track did well as a demo, and I really liked it, so I asked samwe to arrange it for live performances. That song always felt like the direction I was moving in and wanted to go in, and samwe’s arrangement was so good, I just had to have it on the album too. I think it very well might have been the very last one we produced and recorded. I think I knew it was the title track pretty soon after it became part of the album.

Part of the value of art is that it can make the seemingly random joys and pains of life into something that feels meaningful and beautiful. That’s the point of everything, I think. The song, the album, and whatever I do as an artist and human. My intention is for that song to unite the album by adding that perspective that unites everything else in life.

You’ve said your demos usually begin with piano and soprano voice, and that you then want the production to rough them up a bit. How do you know when a song is still too “pretty”?

Putting things on electric guitars is often enough to make them feel better, but samwe is great with adding distortion, grit, and groove in just the right places, too. I often gravitate towards darker and more interesting sounds, and by the time we got into this album, samwe had learned this about me and was sending me a lot of stuff I immediately just loved. I’m also grateful to have found musicians whose styles I absolutely love, who add exactly what the songs need. Even in my own demo arrangements, I’m adding dissonant basslines or vocal melodies, just to keep it crunchy and disturbing where I can.

With ‘Cobalt’, what came first: the lyrics, the piano or that double-bass figure?

Matthew’s chords came first, maybe even years before he gave them to me to topline. The title came with the chords, too. The double bass arrangement was definitely last, in that samwe was rearranging it almost all through the recording process. He was fine-tuning those guitars and double bass parts right up until the end. My lyrics were mostly done as soon as Matthew sent me the chords, but I didn’t write the second verse until samwe was already into the production process over a year later.

There’s a lot of very physical imagery in ‘Cobalt’, with blood, skin and that fingerprint on the heart. Does that sort of imagery usually come quickly when you’re writing?

That all comes naturally when I’m in the zone! Keeping it in is much harder than letting it out. Happy spooky season! Although Matthew gets credit for the “fingerprint” bit. He said something like that to me once. I do try to craft the lyrics thoughtfully when it comes to the expressive poetic stuff, but it is usually a pretty quick flow.

You had a serious background in dance before music became your main focus. Does that still affect the way you move in videos or when you’re performing?

Wow, you’ve really done your research! You’re correct, but I can’t recall where I shared that about my background. And that’s an amazing and unexpected compliment, thank you! Gosh, I don’t know… there’s definitely something about using my body as my instrument and physically translating the music. So yeah, probably. I’m still very visual and am a bit particular about it. And I still gravitate towards the nuanced details and dynamics of expression.

‘Heat’ began with the sound of your kitchen burner, while ‘Pang’ kept vocal material from the original demo. Do you still like keeping those accidental or slightly strange sounds when they turn up?

Oh, what gifts those were. After moving away from that, I realized I want to go back to it. And I told samwe as much, which is why ‘Tattered’ has his breath beat, and the other songs also have some essential and weird motifs running through them. But those original sounds, yeah. I still plan to do more with that in the future.

samwe has been central to your recordings for several years, while ‘Moments’ also brings in Matthew Gnat and members of your live band. What did having those extra people involved add to the arrangements?

Oh yes, I definitely toplined Matthew’s compositions in a way that was very specific to what he had written. And the band definitely brought ideas samwe and I would not have had before. But the band’s contributions happened after the writing and were more about the arrangements.

Samantha Rosen has also been part of your recorded work for a while, and on ‘Moments’ she mixed the record and worked closely on the vocals. What does she hear in your voice that perhaps you don’t hear yourself?

Everything, haha. But I also hear things subjectively that she doesn’t. That’s why I love collaborating with people. The additional perspectives are always so helpful. Sam R has been amazing at helping me gain confidence and accept my authentic expression. She helps me see value in things I might have thrown out. And she has mad skillllsssss. She’s a magician in the studio, and she can polish little gems I wouldn’t have recognized otherwise.

When you think back to ‘Heat’ in 2022, what feels most different about the way you write and make records now?

I hope it’s more complex and has more depth, both musically and lyrically. ‘Heat’ was very much just the initial spark being lit for me. The fire is roaring now, and I have a lot to cook with it. I hope the result feels more multidimensional and rooted in my own personal sound.

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Jason Beard

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