Lou Hayter has long been the epitome of cool in London, but with her new album Unfamiliar Skin, she’s set to reach an entirely new level. If her previous work was the chill breeze of the city, this one’s a deep, icy plunge into the unknown. For years, Lou has been a quiet force in the music scene, but now, she’s not just cool—she’s completely in control. And that control is reflected not only in her music but in the way she’s producing it.
In fact, Lou’s decision to produce Unfamiliar Skin herself was a deliberate challenge she set for herself. “I decided to produce it myself, which was a challenge, but it was time,” she explains. “It’s a male-dominated industry. I’ve worked with some incredible men who respected me, but I’ve also faced the flip side—being mansplained to, being told my opinions didn’t matter.”
Despite the hurdles she’s encountered, Lou’s path to producing her own record was empowering. In a world where very few women take the reins in production, her decision felt like a statement of ownership. “A very small percentage of women are producers, so this felt like a statement. It’s very undiluted me.” She’s unapologetically raw, steering the sound of Unfamiliar Skin into darker, more ambitious territory than her debut, Private Sunshine, which had a sunnier, Eighties-inspired vibe. This latest album dives deep into a retro-futuristic, sci-fi art-pop world—a sound that has an undeniable air of intrigue and mystery.
This shift in tone is intentional, and Lou couldn’t be more excited about it. Unfamiliar Skin is a deep departure, sonically speaking. "It’s got a slightly more sinister edge compared to my first record," she notes. This darker, more expansive sound—characterized by an eclectic mix of personal intimacy and otherworldliness—would undoubtedly make David Bowie proud. There’s something about the way she weaves vulnerability with otherworldly elements that feels almost like magic, as if her music is literally getting under your skin.
The title Unfamiliar Skin itself was born from a conversation Lou had with a friend about love and infidelity. “We were talking about affairs, and how the allure of unfamiliar skin can be so compelling for someone in a long relationship,” she shares. But there’s another layer to the title, one that’s deeply personal to Lou herself. “It also has a dual meaning,” she adds. “Because I’m in unfamiliar skin as a producer.” It’s a perfect metaphor for Lou’s journey as an artist, taking on new roles and pushing past boundaries in both her personal and professional life.
Before her solo career, Lou first made waves as the keyboardist for New Young Pony Club, the Mercury Prize-nominated band that rose to fame during the New Rave movement. This was the early days of the Indie Sleaze scene, a time when bands like Klaxons were sweeping through the music world. While Lou has fond memories of that time—describing it as “fun, like summer camp”—her songwriting journey didn’t truly begin until the scene itself was winding down.
As she shifted from being part of a band to forging a successful solo career, Lou began bringing her vast musical knowledge to the forefront. Unfamiliar Skin feels like the culmination of years of influences and experiences, from her DJing days to her love for genre-bending sounds. “For the record, I was thinking about Compass Point Studios, that early-2000s space-age, Neptunes-style production, and Massive Attack during the Blue Lines era,” Lou recalls. With those influences in mind, she built a soundscape that’s both familiar and entirely fresh.
The tracks on Unfamiliar Skin explore the highs and lows of relationships—the exhilaration, the betrayal, the compromises. Each song feels like an emotional journey. In "OK OK," there’s a sense of resigned acceptance. The song “3AM” pulses with a solitary, longing energy that feels almost anxious. Then there’s “Frequency,” where the emotional stakes take a surreal turn into mind control and eroticism. Lou laughs as she describes the track, “It’s based on my real abilities. I feel I have an increasing sense of Extra Sensory Perception. I feel I can communicate beyond the physical. My family laughed me out of the room when I told them that.” But her mix of personal experience and abstract, almost sci-fi inspiration gives the album its unmistakable edge.
The entire album pulses with a neon, nocturnal energy, something that comes to life in the visuals accompanying the tracks. For example, the video for “In My Heart” feels like something straight out of Ghost in the Shell, an animated masterpiece that perfectly matches the mood of the song. Created by Tom Furse, a former member of The Horrors, the video uses anime to match the album’s futuristic and otherworldly vibes. Tom Furse also directed the video for the title track, where AI technology is used to morph Lou’s face into iconic movie characters like Sean Connery in Dr. No and Claudia Cardinale in 8 ½. The result is pure pop alchemy—mixing the past with the present in a way that’s both playful and sophisticated.
What makes Unfamiliar Skin stand out is how effortlessly Lou blends high art with pop appeal. It’s the kind of British pop music that feels both accessible and deeply refined, like it’s been crafted with intention, yet still manages to captivate you from the first listen. It’s a sound that surprises you, delights you, and sometimes even challenges you.
Lou herself is still in awe of how the album came together. “It’s exciting. I didn’t know I was going to make this record—it just poured out of me,” she admits. “For the first time, I wasn’t overthinking; I was channeling. And when I listened back, I thought, ‘What is this record?’ It felt like I had all these elements in my head, and I knew they were going to work together, but I had no idea how. Then it all just clicked.”
It’s that kind of instinctive creation that defines an artist at their peak—when everything comes together effortlessly, when the work begins to speak for itself. Lou’s journey is an act of self-actualization, a journey she’s been taking in front of our eyes. Music, for her, is a way of meeting herself. She reflects, “I feel more like me when I put music out. And a lot happier. Like, ‘Oh, this is who I am.’”
That sense of self-realization is exactly what makes Unfamiliar Skin such a remarkable album. Lou Hayter isn’t just playing with sounds; she’s playing with her identity, carving out a new space for herself as both an artist and a woman in a male-dominated industry. And in doing so, she’s not just redefining her career—she’s redefining what it means to be an artist in the 21st century. Unfamiliar Skin is her boldest statement yet. It’s not just a collection of songs—it’s a declaration of independence, a journey into the unknown that feels thrilling, powerful, and completely her own.
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