LEA – Zu Dir

“When I write music I really unpack my heart” - this is how LEA describes how she approaches songwriting and puts into words what is obvious in her music: The 27-year old is a musician with her body and soul and her lyrics and melodies reflect something very personal. At the same time LEA broaches issues that plague her generation: from indecision and commitment phobia to the search for selflessness, with her new frankness, LEA really has her finger on the pulse of this generation.

But let’s go back to the beginning. With a music therapist for a father, LEA (who is actually named Lea-Marie Becker) grew up in Kassel surrounded by instruments. At the age of six she began piano lessons, by the age of 11 she wrote her first songs, and at 15 she landed a YouTube hit called “Where Has Love Gone.” So you can say music has accompanied LEA throughout her entire life, yet after graduating from high school she decided against a music career in favor of the great wide world. She spent half a year in Argentina working in an organization for children. Once back in Germany, LEA moved to Hannover and began studying music and special education. And in the evenings she played her songs in bars across the city.

In 2016 LEA’s music career really got started: she became a backup singer for Mark Forster, one of the most successful pop artists in Germany, stood up on stage with bands like Glasperlenspiel and Seven - and released in that same year her debut album “Vakuum” (Vacum). LEA’s single “Leiser” (Quieter) was just out a year and already became a huge radio hit and brought her her first golden record. In 2019 LEA followed with her second album “Zwischen den Zeilen” (Between the Lines), on which you can find the single “Zu dir” (To you), which she wrote together with Mark Forster and has been streamed millions of times.

“I really opened myself up during the production of the second album. For the first time I wrote together with friends, worked with five different producers and shed myself of pop music’s stereotypes. I always wanted to be more indie but ended up always writing pop songs. Today I stand behind the pop label and it’s a lot of fun,” explained LEA. It was quite a sense of liberation for her, and she felt opened up to a boundless freedom to experiment within the pop genre.

What’s special about the new album? “With this album it was important for me to create emotional and also sad songs within the guise of positive and energetic ones so that overall a relaxed energy emerges. I really think it's great to see how even really deep-reaching lyrics work on top of danceable beats,” said this transplant to Berlin. She clearly achieved this with “Between the Lines,” but LEA remains modest and when asked about her success and her motivation says: “Whether I perform in front of 4 or 1,000 pepole - I do it all out of love, and because writing songs is something I’ve just always done”