Charlotte Lawrence Is Motivated By Vulnerability

In Elite Daily’s series Early Influences, musicians reflect on the songs and albums that left a lasting impression on them in their formative years. Here, singer-actor-model Charlotte Lawrence talks about how her favorite artists inspired her debut album, Somewhere.

Charlotte Lawrence just dropped her debut full-length album, but that doesn’t mean she’s slowing down anytime soon. Somewhere, Lawrence’s first release as an independent artist, is an amalgamation of her highs and lows over the last 10 years. “This album, from top to bottom, is so vulnerable,” she says. “It's like my diary and all my secrets, feelings, thoughts, pain, vulnerabilities, and my f*ck-ups.”

On the 13-track album, the 25-year-old explores the feeling of not being loved back in her energetic lead single “Dog,” and investigates infidelity in the raw ballad “Us Three.” The album also includes Lawrence’s current favorite song, “Ophelia,” which she co-wrote with Gracie Abrams. (The two grew up together in Los Angeles.) “We wrote it when I was in France on vacation a few years ago over FaceTime,” she says. “We went back and forth and wrote this really beautiful song.”

Later this month, on July 22, Lawrence will embark on a nationwide tour, starting in San Francisco. But she’s no stranger to taking her music on the road. Opening for Madison Beer last year, Lawrence found herself inspired by Beer’s stage presence. “Madison has found a beautiful balance between performing as an artist while connecting to her fans as a human.”

I just want to go, go, go, and give it my all.

After concluding her tour in August, Lawrence returns to LA to star in the second season of the Apple TV+ show Bad Monkey. While she has a jam-packed summer ahead of her, she’s more motivated than ever. “I want to just keep doing it until I don't want to anymore — and I have the opposite of that feeling. I just want to go, go, go, and give it my all.”

Below, Lawrence reflects on how some of her earliest musical influences shaped her sound.

Elliott Smith

Lawrence was exposed to Smith through his song “Between the Bars” from his fourth album, Either/Or. She recalls first hearing the song in a movie, and from that point on, Lawrence became entranced by Smith’s vulnerable lyrics and melancholy melodies. “I love music that makes you feel, and Elliott Smith is the king of that,” Lawrence says.

Beyond admiring Smith’s music, Lawrence studied his work. “When I was told myself that I wanted to be an artist, I looked to my earliest inspirations. I knew I loved ‘Between the Bars,’ so I dived into his artistry. I fell in love with his entire discography. Either/Or I think is a 10/10 album from top to bottom.”

Lawrence imagines that Smith’s inspiration isn’t limited to her. “I feel that a lot of today's artists, like Phoebe Bridgers and Lana Del Rey, would not be here without Elliott Smith. I think that he is the blueprint in many ways for a lot of different musicians.”

Jeff Buckley

Lawrence’s connection to Jeff Buckley started around the same time as her admiration for Elliott Smith. Lawrence also resonated with the inhibition in Buckley’s lyrics while exploring various genre-bending styles.

“He was able to make the most heart-wrenching, almost church type of religious, beautiful, sad, slow song like ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Lover, You Should've Come Over.’ But then he also made the song ‘Grace,’ which is a heavy rock song that has weird chord choices and feels dark and angsty,” she says.

As Lawrence continues to explore blending music with her personal life, she looks to Buckley, who expressed love sonically. Lawrence points to an unreleased Buckley song, ‘All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun,’ that he recorded with his girlfriend at the time, Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. “It's an unreleased song, but if you find it on YouTube, you hear her giggling at the start of the song,” she says. “They sing this beautiful duet together. It has some of my favorite lyrics I've ever heard in my life. It’s so special and emotional.”

Bon Iver

Lawrence’s first introductions to Bon Iver were through their debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, and their self-titled album, Bon Iver. Aside from strictly listening to their music, Lawrence says their song “Wolves” as the first song she learned to play on the piano.

She finds herself getting swept away by the production of their music. “When I listen to a song, I have to look up the lyrics and read them. But with Bon Iver, I was so emotionally struck and taken aback by their sound,” Lawrence says. “I read the lyrics later, and I went through a whole other process of being emotionally affected by it.”

After recent collabs with pop artists, Lawrence suspects their love of music allows them to experiment. “They can get inspired by Taylor Swift's pop or Charli XCX’s dance music. They’re willing to lend their talents and collaborate with these incredible people because of their love for music.”

Sufjan Stevens

Unlike her introduction to her other early influences, Lawrence discovered Sufjan Stevens later in life. “I saw Call Me By Your Name (2017) in theaters the first week that it came out, and Sufjan Stevens did the entire soundtrack for that movie. Those songs had my jaw on the floor. I became obsessed with Sufjan Stevens and I listened to every single f*cking thing he ever did.”

Lawrence’s favorite projects of his are a toss-up — and a decision she doesn’t make lightly. Stuck between his certified-Gold albums Carrie & Lowell and Illinois, Lawrence gravitates more towards Carrie & Lowell, even though she has both albums downloaded on her phone. “I remember hearing ‘Fourth of July’ a few years ago and being really mesmerized by the deep sadness of it and the way that he can write about grief in a very simple way,’ Lawrence says. “He doesn't need to necessarily be dramatic or super metaphorical or poetic. It just is what it is.”

His personal but concise storytelling inspires Lawrence when she’s writing her own music. “The way that he writes as if he's just speaking to somebody in its simple form made me also relax in my lyrics and let me be literal. If I want to say ‘Don’t hurt me,’ I’ll let myself say that without trying to make it metaphorical.”