{"id":1851005,"date":"2026-03-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1851005"},"modified":"2026-03-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-103","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1851005","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tTHE BITTERSWEET HIGHS OF LAUREN AUDER<\/span>
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In her first new music since 2023, the avant-garde artist flips from baroque to dance-pop. For the release of her album Whole World As Vigil, she reflects on what it means to truly experience the world and how love unveils its potential.<\/h3>\n
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Photography by Alice Schillaci<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Pop isn\u2019t the first thing that comes to mind when you encounter Lauren Auder<\/a>. The British-French musician\u2019s moody aesthetic, profuse lyrics that reference poetry and philosophy, and soul-searching orchestral baroque pop have set her apart since the release of her first single, \u201cThe Baptist\u201d, in 2017. But despite her hyper-literacy and roots in left-swinging styles like underground rap and emo, Auder\u2019s the antithesis of an intellectual snob. Her affiliation with pop music may have been picked up by those watching closely \u2013 she\u2019s previously collaborated with Celeste and Caroline Polachek, after all. But with the release of her new album Whole World As Vigil<\/em>, pop\u2019s influence is undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The work is her first music in three years, since the release of her debut album The Infinite Spine, <\/em>a rich, fascinating record where she explored the depths of her identity and otherness. Auder\u2019s Whole World As Vigil <\/em>represents, if not a sharp turn, a burst in growth. Rather than twisting inward, Auder finds herself inspired by burgeoning love and the changes in perception \u2013 of the world, of self and of others \u2013 that a new relationship can instigate. No track better exemplifies this than the shiny dance-inspired single \u201cyes\u201d, which sees the artist \u201cbreaking new ground\u201d with a full-chested foray into pop in the form of a love song. \u201cThe record is about realising that, through that lens, it feels like the world has absolutely changed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As Auder shares Whole World As Vigil\u2019<\/em>s today (27th March), followed by a spate of tour dates throughout the UK and US over the coming months, she sits down with Wonderland<\/em> to talk about love and connection, sampling Ghostface Killah (plus a random industrial drill on TikTok), and what true experimentalism means to her.<\/p>\n

Listen to the LP\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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Read the interview\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Starting at the beginning, in the first chorus of <\/strong>Whole World As Vigil<\/em><\/strong>, you have this declaration of \u201clet greed in\u201d. I\u2019m guessing that you\u2019re not telling us to be consumerist pigs. What are you communicating?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is exactly what I was getting at. No, obviously not! The thing that I was getting at is, on some levels, some anti-Puritan thing, where it\u2019s like, enough self-flagellating. A lot of the first record was about constructing yourself in the world, and how to be, how to endure, how to make it through living and become yourself and live in that way. On this second record, I was like, \u201cOkay, well, if I feel like I have a solid enough backbone, like \u201cthe infinite spine\u201d, then what does it mean to search for more?\u201d It\u2019s already a huge task to be able to be present. Then once you feel like you\u2019re part of the world, surely you can ask for more of it? That\u2019s what I was getting at, this idea of it shouldn\u2019t be enough to just survive.<\/p>\n

What inspired the shift in tone to this more dancey, at times ravey, sound on <\/strong>Whole World As Vigil<\/em><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My life changed a lot from infinite spine<\/em> onwards. I was experiencing things that called for me to make more joyful music, or at least more hopeful. The infinite spine<\/em> is a very hopeful record, but it definitely comes from a place of distress, a lot of it. And on this one it was just about experiencing plentiful things and, in terms of sonics. It felt like I\u2019m going back to my roots. Because I started out making electronic music, dance and rap music, and those are things that I wanted to bring back into the fold. I think I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder with some earlier records where I felt the need to really prove that I could make some grandiose baroque pop full of orchestral flair. It felt good to be more free and open with influence and sound.<\/p>\n

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You\u2019ve packed so many emotions into each song \u2013 it feels so textured. How did emotion come into your songwriting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s got to be the layer cake. There\u2019s no one true experience. I think that the album is a celebration of life and of being in the world, but all of that comes as this bittersweet thing. On every song on the record, I wanted to complicate on some level and have that nuance, and on the first two singles, \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cpraxis\u201d, they\u2019re both really joyous songs and really celebratory. But I always feel like it\u2019s only true to life to have a moment of doubt, or vulnerability, or fear, and on both those tracks the bridge section introduces something a bit more complicated. Because a lot of my music is written aspirationally, it feels important that there are those moments of removing the mask. Where, although I\u2019m presenting some kind of clear manifesto, it\u2019s never simple.<\/p>\n

You used a really interesting sample on \u2018praxis\u2019, a clip of an industrial drill found on TikTok. What about that appealed to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that it works on two levels: it sounds good, that\u2019s the main one. But also there was some kind of meta level on which I found it interesting and fun. I think one of my most successful songs, by some metric, is \u201cjune 14th\u201d from two caves in<\/em>, and that is built off a similar chugging violin section. And it felt really fun because I let go of the feeling that I needed to prove something artistically. It felt like quite a neat way to exemplify that by going, \u201cOh, I can make something that sounds quite similar by sampling TikTok.\u201d That felt really amusing to me.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of humour in the record, especially musically \u2013 I don\u2019t think so much lyrically, it\u2019s quite earnest on that level \u2013 there are a lot of winks in the production and in the choice of samples, and that feels like one of the main ones, where it\u2019s like, I can still make music that sounds like a big string section, but it\u2019s really born of me scrolling through the internet.<\/p>\n

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Photography by st.telio<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s also a really fun familiar sounding sample on \u201corchard\u201d that\u2019s in the background and I made a note to ask what was that\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ghostface Killah on \u201cMighty Healthy\u201d is the track on which the little line appears. Ghostface has the best voice ever; it\u2019s instantly memorable and takes up so much space on the track. I\u2019ve loved Ghostface Killah\u2019s music for years and years. His album Fishscale <\/em>is, like, my mum\u2019s favourite album, so I have a real connection to Ghostface in general. When I was writing that final section in \u2018orchards\u2019, which is a quote by [Rainer Maria] Rilke, a poet whom I love (\u201cThere\u2019s no place that does not see you, you can change your life.\u201d),\u00a0 I thought that there was a really interesting contrast between these two lines. Effectively, they say the same thing, because the Ghostface line is, \u201cRock that body, party that body\u201d. It\u2019s like, let\u2019s get it moving. Let\u2019s make stuff happen! Let\u2019s live, you know? It felt like a really wonderful clash of time and place and, on some level, of perception \u2013 high and low art, which is the opposite to how I feel about those things. I feel like they exist on the same plane, and so I wanted to put them on the same plane. It felt exciting to bring that in as a nod to the things I care about.<\/p>\n

More widely, I was wondering about your approach to experimentation. What does experimentalism mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the moments on the record that are the most experimental are probably not the ones that people would think, because there\u2019s an idea of experimental music as a genre, and then there\u2019s actual experimentation. A lot of noise music that ostensibly is supposed to be experimental music is not experimental at all\u2026 not to throw shots at anyone or anything specifically. But a lot of supposedly avant-garde or experimental music is neither of those things. It fits under an umbrella of what was once considered experimental. I think a lot of the experimental parts of this record come from just throwing shit at the wall.<\/p>\n

It sounds like being playful?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a huge part of this record, and there are a lot of playful elements of the production. Even using those samples, just trying things. \u201cpier\u201d ends with a completely distorted wall of sound, and it kind of all falls apart. But that wasn\u2019t experimental, I knew exactly what was going on at that moment; I knew I wanted it to end and all burn out in that way. The more experimental moments come from me trying out some of the more dancey rhythms, or on \u201c701\u201d trying to make a flamenco beat.<\/p>\n

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The album, in part, was inspired by a relationship, the development of it, and the break-up. How did that affect your writing and influence you creatively, emotionally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of those things that connects you to every other human being in history, when you fall in love really deeply. It changes everything. It forces you to look at yourself and look at the world, and how you want to move through it. These are the things that make people want to sing, because that\u2019s the most human thing ever, both falling in love and having your heart broken, or breaking someone\u2019s heart \u2013 or doing all of the above. It\u2019s some of the most intense emotions that you\u2019re ever going to feel.<\/p>\n

The record is about realising that, through that lens, it feels like the world has absolutely changed. All the things and all the beauty that you\u2019re suddenly aware of in those moments are actually where they always were, which is what I was saying on that chorus of \u2018yes\u2019,<\/strong> which is \u201cTo see all things like I see you.\u201d That\u2019s what I want to take away from a romantic experience, to be reminded that all the world is full of potential. The colours are more vivid, but nothing\u2019s changed materially. It\u2019s all there in potential.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me about the meaning behind the <\/strong>Whole World As Vigil\u2019<\/em><\/strong>s title?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had this title before anything else, which was the same with the infinite spine<\/em>. It\u2019s a really intense and evocative image. It came from a story that a friend of mine told me; they underwent psychosis and had a vision of seeing everyone on Earth in one go. That felt so insane, because it was impossible to imagine. That felt so powerful, and it evoked the feeling I was trying to get on this record \u2013 what I was going through.<\/p>\n

The thing to take away from a romantic relationship is that everything in the world looks at you while you look back at it, and everyone\u2019s here, and everyone\u2019s present, and you can\u2019t lock yourself off, not in yourself, not in a singular romantic relationship, not in an idea of yourself, or a political belief, or an identity. It\u2019s all connected, and that\u2019s what it means: connection. It all goes back to the start. You can spend hours thinking about these complicated ideas and end up with something pretty \u201clive, laugh, love\u201d. That\u2019s what the album\u2019s about.<\/p>\n

I see what you mean. The essential human desires and drives\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Real shit. It\u2019s all connected. We\u2019re all here together. The Whole World As Vigil<\/em> is that \u2013 we\u2019re all here.<\/p>\n

Words \u2013 Henrietta Taylor<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tBirkins, insurance policies and control phobia: 26 things I learned about egg freezing<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland THE BITTERSWEET HIGHS OF LAUREN AUDER In her first new music since 2023, the avant-garde artist flips from baroque to dance-pop. For the release of her album Whole World As Vigil, she reflects on what it means to truly experience the world and how love unveils its potential. Photography by Alice Schillaci Pop isn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1851005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1851005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1851005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1851005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1851005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}