Photo Credit: Max Keliehor
After delivering the first renderings of her sophomore album, with the initial single “Bittersweet” featuring Portugal. the Man and “Feel” with Jacob Banks, LP Giobbi has followed up with another preview pull from Dotr, arriving via Ninja Tune’s imprint Counter Records on Oct. 18. The jazz-trained pianist, known for her dance-focused reinterpretation of Jerry Garica’s classic eponymous solo album, has dropped “So Nice To Be In Love” featuring Mascolo.
Casting a full display of her exemplary instrumental training, “So Nice To Be In Love” intertwines stimulating piano riffs with buoyant and vivid melodies, complemented by an island-inspired bass line. “’So Nice To Be In Love’ was recorded over a couple of cold days this past winter — LP & I had been sending different parts back and forth and right after that vocal melody and that dramatic piano intro landed,” Says Mascolo on making the track.
“We were both hooked. The track was the perfect juxtaposition to the mood, it’s light and playful, and brought us to a lil dance party in a different world,” Giobbi said of the track via press release. Emulating the feel of a late-night summer disco tech, the song presents a consistent and positive beat, an ideal sonic match for love-soaked meet-ups with no promise of tomorrow.
In full, Dotr serves as the follow-up to Giobbi’s first full-studio collection of original music, 2023’s Light Places, earning her the titles of DJ Mag’s Best Producer of 2023, NPR’s Favorite New Musicians of 2023, Spotify RADAR’s Artists to Watch and among other accolades. The impending collection is the artist’s attempt to seize the comforts of home, given her laborious touring schedule with days, weeks, and months spent on the road, with added help from Brittany Howard, Panama, Danielle Ponder, and more.
From candid recordings featuring lauded friends, Giobbi uses the set as a framework for familial references and raw emotions steeped in life and loss. From the death of her beloved mother-in-law Patricia Lynn to Carolyn Horn, the musician’s piano teacher since second grade and an early electronic music student at the University of Oregon, Giobbi uses the set to recognize the women who impacted her life and turn the pain into musical tributes.
“This album is a lot about what it is to be a daughter, have a daughter and love a daughter, as well as a way of honoring some of the most important women in my life. There are also a lot of themes tied to home (the ones we create or the ones we were born into) which, for me, are reflected through my identity as a daughter,” Giobbi explained when first outlining the intent of her project.
Breaking down the meaning behind the album’s title, she added, “When I was young I used to write my parents little notes and leave them under their pillow or around the house and I would sign them ‘love, Dotr’ as I was (and still am) the world’s worst speller. To this day when they write me a birthday card or whatever, they start it ‘Dear Dotr.’”
Pre-order Dotr. Scroll down to listen to “So Nice To Be In Love.”
Dotr Tracklist:
Intro: Patricia Lynn
Been Such a Long Time (with Mascolo)
Is This Love (with Danielle Ponder)
Feel (with Jacob Banks)
Until There’s Nothing Left (with Brittany Howard)
Interlude: Suse Millemann
Bittersweet (with Portugal. The Man)
So Nice To Be In Love (with Mascolo)
Love Come Through (with Panama)
Succession
Really Good (with Reva DeVito)
Interlude: Dad to daughter; We Say Yes (with Dad and Yona Gold)
Two Days Older (with Madelyn Rue)
Interlude: Carolyn Horn
Carolyn
Outro: Mama, Mama, Many Worlds I’ve Gone Since I First Left Home (with Holly Bowling)
