Fresh off releasing his sophomore album All 4 Nothing, Lauv helped kick off the launch of iHeartLand's State Farm Park on Roblox. On Friday, September 16th, the singer-songwriter gave fans in the metaverse an intimate performance of new songs as well as some of his biggest hits. iHeartRadio's JoJo Wright hosted the once-in-a-lifetime performance, coming back throughout the show to ask Lauv questions about his most personal album yet.
Lauv started the performance off strong with one of his biggest hits to date. "I'm gonna take it back," he said before teasing fans by playing bits of the unmistakable hook from the fan favorite "I Like Me Better." After the joyful sing-a-long, Lauv launched into his next track "I'm So Tired," telling fans, "I need to hear you from everywhere." The singer teamed up with pop peer Troye Sivan for the catchy track which was featured on his 2019 compilation album I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist).
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JoJo then came back out to ask Lauv some questions. "They say the sophomore album is the most difficult. Is that true in your opinion?" Lauv answered honestly," Yeah, I mean, it was hard but at the same time it was really fun. I just freestyled a bunch and had a good time." He then went on to reveal that the biggest difference between All 4 Nothing compared to his first album was the actual process of making them.
"I tried to think as little as possible," Lauv said. "I made it during [the COVID-19] lockdown times and I was at home with a lot of my thoughts and I was trying to get away from my thoughts for a second. I was like, 'I'm just gonna turn the microphone on and make these songs and not overthink them.'"
JoJo followed up by asking Lauv why he felt it necessary to upend his usual song-making process. "I just felt like I needed to do something different," he said. "I was definitely overthinking a lot about, like, myself and the person that I was trying to be in the world. My last album How I'm Feeling, there were all these different versions of me on the cover. I think I was going through a lot of identity crisis vibes and I was like okay I just need to have fun and not think and just freestyle. Yeah, so that's kinda how the album happened." Lauv then went on to say that the new "fun" creative process started out with him trying stuff out over beats on YouTube. "I was really bad and I'm still bad at that," the singer joked, "but you know. Never to be heard."
Since Lauv has also had success writing songs for other performers, JoJo wanted to know if writing songs for himself or for other people was more rewarding. "They're both super rewarding because it's just like if I'm making music and it gets out in the world that's just insane to me in general," he said. "But, I mean, there's nothing like making a song, me coming on stage, and connecting with everybody. That's literally the best feeling in the world."
The two also discussed rumors that Lauv was ready to walk away from music at one point. "Punch me in the face if this is just nonsense," JoJo said before bringing it up, but Lauv confirmed it was true and even revealed, "Yeah, definitely at many points but we don't have to go there." The crowd erupted into cheers after JoJo asked if they were glad Lauv didn't give up on music.
Getting back to the music, Lauv another one of his hits "F--k, I'm Lonely," which was featured on the 13 Reasons Why (Season 3) soundtrack back in 2019. Lauv finally turned to his new album by performing its titular track "All 4 Nothing (I'm So In Love)." In a previous statement, the singer/songwriter explained that it's, "a song about loving someone so much at a time in your life when you’re still in the process of learning how to love yourself and being scared how your own personal insecurities could ruin a love that is and could be so genuine and transformative. In essence, it’s a song about surrendering to love and life."
JoJo came to the stage one last time to discuss the lyrics of the song he just sang and why it was important to share it with his fans. "As cheesy as it sounds, love is obviously one of the best ways to heal as a person. You heal so much through your relationships with people," he explained. "Not just for thing song but for any song, have you ever felt like you revealed too much or not enough?" JoJo asked. After a long pause, Lauv answered with an unsure "maybe?" as the crowd laughed.
Getting back to the All 4 Nothing, JoJo prompted, "You said there's a bit of an unspoken, magical feeling to his album. Talk about that." "I think I just very much lost myself in the process of doing it," Lauv said. "It's an awesome album to listen to and be in nature, to look at water, to just chill to, to be with your friends. It's super fun."
To close out the night, Lauv gave fans a taste of the new album with the tracks "Stay Together" and "Stranger," which he described as a song "about anxiety and falling in love and pushing people away."
You can listen to Lauv's latest album All 4 Nothing here and stay tuned for more performances from your favorite artists in iHeartLand on Roblox.