Amateurs (White Vinyl)

Revered Sydney songwriter Laura Jean returns with new album Amateurs, her first record since the much-celebrated Devotion in 2018

Amateurs is a stunning, string-laden album, set at a mystical midway point between the deep synth-pop of Devotion and the folkier sounds of Laura’s earlier work. The album features backing vocals from Aldous Harding and Marlon Williams on three songs (Teenager Again, Amateurs and Folk Festival)

Laura worked with producer Tim Bruniges around Sydney’s long 2020- 2021 lockdowns. Erkki Veltheim (Gurrumul, Cat Power) arranged gorgeous strings for the album, which were recorded in Melbourne by Devotion producer John Lee

Amateurs is an album about anti-art and anti-intellectual culture in Australia (but applies equally to other parts of the world). It sees Laura questioning her role as a songwriter and examining the reality of her choices to prioritise art over other parts of her life. It is also a warmhearted, humorous and sonically breathtaking album

“Amateurs means to do something for love, not money, and somehow it’s become a dirty word, shorthand for a failure,” says Laura. “These songs arise from my acceptance that I will always be an ‘amateur’.”