Amateurs by Laura Jean

Amateurs is a stunning, string-laden album, set at a mystical midway point between the deep synth-pop of Devotion and the folkier sounds of Laura’s earlier work. Laura worked with producer Tim Bruniges (Miiesha, Honey 2 Honey, The Dead Sea) in Stanmore and St Peters on Gadigal Country in-between the long 2020-2021 lockdowns. Erkki Veltheim (Gurrumul, Archie Roach) arranged gorgeous strings for the album, which were recorded by Devotion producer John Lee in Naarm/Melbourne.

Amateurs is an album about anti-art and anti-intellectual culture in Australia (that also applies to other parts of the world). It sees Laura questioning her role as a songwriter and examining the reality of her choices to prioritise art over other parts of her life. It is also a warmhearted, humorous and sonically breathtaking album. “These songs arise from my acceptance that I will always be an ‘amateur’,” Laura says.”At the same time, I was fuelled by a desire to create something inordinately luxurious and beautiful.”

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.