It’s 313 Day and Toronto musician LØLØ happens to be in Detroit to perform at the Lager House in Corktown. LØLØ, real name Lauren Mandel, posted an Instagram Story earlier that day showing herself hanging out by the Detroit riverfront and tagged Detroiters stars Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson — jokingly inviting the comedy duo to her show.
“Oh my god, I watched Detroiters literally, like all the time,” LØLØ reveals. “We’ve watched the same episodes over and over again. I wish there was [sic] more than two seasons.”
Listen: LØLØ talks growth, expectations for herself + more
The 27-year-old singer-songwriter had a big 2024 with the release of her debut studio album, falling for robots & wishing i was one, last June via Hopeless Records. The 15-track collection covers all the bases about heartbreak in a variety of flavors, including pop bangers like “u turn me on (but u give me depression)” to the stripped down “gloria.” LØLØ embarked on her first headlining “You Tour Me On” tour earlier this year, selling out venues across North America, including Detroit,
The road to falling for robots and wishing i was one can be traced back to LØLØ’s debut EP Sweater Collection, released in 2019. While sonically they share little in common, you can sense the sincerity of Mandel’s songwriting that she’s carried throughout her young career. That same year, she released a bubbly cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit “Dancing in the Dark,” which has over 31 million streams on Spotify as of this writing.
While LØLØ has released several singles and EPs since then — including the coffeehouse-friendly song and what got me introduced to her music, “Dear First Love” — she wasn’t able to reach that same streaming peak that her Springsteen cover reached until “u turn me on (but u give me depression)” was released. Initially a track from LØLØ’s 2022 debbie downer EP, “u turn me on (but u give me depression)” was included on falling for robots and wishing i was one and has over 27 million Spotify streams to date. For LØLØ, it’s validation that her original songs can also reach that level.
“I was always like, ‘I hate that. This is, like, my number one song. It’s not even my song.’ Funny enough people thought it was my song, like new generation totally thought that I sung it, so that was funny. But yeah, it feels way better that my songs are now getting to that level, because I feel like they deserve it.”
Listen to my conversation with LØLØ in its entirety using the media player above. We also talk about her unique TikTok covers during the pandemic, her expectations embarking on her first headlining tour and more.
LØLØ will be back in metro Detroit this summer with Simple Plan, 3OH!3 and Bowling For Soup when the “Bigger Than You Think!” tour comes to the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights on Saturday, Aug. 23. Tickets are on sale now at 313presents.com and the venue box office.
LØLØ’s debut album falling for robots and wishing i was one is available now, including a deluxe version featuring new songs, demo and alternate edits. LØLØ is also nominated for a Heavy Music Award in the “Best Breakthrough Live Artist” category. You can vote for LØLØ now through April 25 at heavymusicawards.com.
