Before she had recorded a note of her debut album, Lolene had already chosen its inspired title: The Electrick Hotel. “I call it The Electrick Hotel because when you put the album on, you’re my guest. I’m going to take care of you,” says the British singer, songwriter, and performer. “You’re invited to come and stay a while in my world, which I see as like a hotel where each song is a room that captures a different part of my personality and expresses different emotions. So if you’re feeling happy, you can go to the penthouse and dance to ‘Sexy People.’ If you’re heartbroken, you can visit the first-floor and have a cry to ‘Beautiful Disaster.’”
The concept, as well as the album’s giddy, whirling electro-pop sound dovetails perfectly with Lolene’s fierce, can-do attitude and positive spirit. The first single, “Rich (Fake It Til You Make It)” is “about living your life like you’ve already made it even if you haven’t got a penny to your name,” Lolene says, while “Sexy People” (Lolene’s debut club single that reached No. 5 on the Billboard Dance chart) insists that everyone has something sexy about them, “whether it’s your little toe or a strand of hair,” she says. “I wrote these songs at a time when everyone was miserable because of the recession. I wanted to come up with something fun and colorful that made people feel good.” Lolene shows a more vulnerable side on the thoughtful break-up ballad “Beautiful Disaster,” and the Euro pop-tinged love song “Lion Heart,” which is about having a brave and fearless attitude toward love. And then there’s the Nellee Hooper-produced “Ordinary Girl,” which could be Lolene’s mission statement with the following lyrics: “I’ll never be ordinary / Weird and wonderful / Strange is beautiful / I’ll never be an ordinary girl.”
Watch Lolene check in to The Electrick Hotel in this first look at her Capitol Records debut. The brand new trailer features audio clips of “Rich (Fake it Til You Make It),” “Lionheart,” and “Ordinary Girl” from the forthcoming release. Stay tuned for the The Electrick Hotel coming this summer.