Roosevelt (born Marius Lauber) is a German singer, songwriter and producer. His third album “Polydans” is currently being released.
Lauber started out as a DJ in Cologne at 19, jumping from band to band until he started making music as Roosevelt.. Where some electronic pop acts might swaddle a song in gauze, Lauber’s music evokes an earnest sweetness, forming crisp melodies around his smooth vocals.
The snappy, cooled-off attitude of songs like 2013’s “Elliot” landed him on international festival stages.
While cutting his teeth for years touring around the world, collaborating with acts like Washed Out, and remixing artists like Rhye, Glass Animals, Chvrches and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Roosevelt became one of the most buzzed-about new voices in electronic music.
When it came time to work on his third album, Lauber took the expertise he learned on the road and brought it back to his roots: a combination of playing multiple instruments in numerous bands during his adolescence followed by his time spent DJing at intimate clubs around London, Berlin, Lisbon and more. He craved the chance to recapture the energy and essence of those moments of sonic connection, where passion and excitement are woven into the intimate nuances of the genre, and the physical relationship between the DJ and those on the dancefloor.
“Polydans” floats between glorifying the past and dreaming of a future that might not come.
An album engineered with the precision and expertise of a production master yet born from the creative passion of the genre’s biggest fan. Playing almost every instrument on the record, Roosevelt created ‘Polydans’ by swirling together the spirits of 80s synth, disco, analogue, Yacht rock and delirious dancefloor euphoria with amazing results. It is, quite simply, a feast for fans of the electronic genre, and a feat of expertly crafted pop that feels current yet nostalgic, club-ready yet heartachingly warm.
“It felt incredibly liberating to realize that I’m in a position now to go to the studio everyday and just do the music that feels right,” he says. “In this respect, ‘Polydans’ is my most personal album yet, as there hasn’t been any creative limitations – I just did what made me happy.”
On “Feels Right,” Lauber sings of running into the dusk, pretending “it ain’t that hard to carry on.” The bouncing hook on “Forget” is sweet enough to dream along with your headphones. It’s almost hard to believe an album this syrupy came from within the same four walls of isolation as the rest of us.
The album “Polydans” is a pleasant addition to this spring. His recordings create hope for a positive perspective in the second half of this year.
NMR (photo: press Roosevelt)
