Our next interview from this year’s UMK selection comes from Lxandra, who had nothing to lose by chatting with us!
Lxandra is a singer and songwriter from Suomenlinna, Finland and the daughter of the Finnish bassist and composer Pekka Lehti. She first appeared in the music scene in 2017 with her first singles “Hush Hush Baby” and “Flicker”, and also was tapped to cover U2’s hit song “Pride (In the Name of Love)” for the third season of American Sci-Fi show The Man In The High Castle in 2018. Since then she’s been acknowledged by OneToWatch, EARMILK, Refinery29 and others as an artist to be on the lookout for. And now she will take her career to the next degree by participating in the Finnish Eurovision selection UMK!
Welcome to ESCUnited Lxandra – thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to interview with us! How are you doing today?
Thank you! I’m doing great! A little tired but feeling super excited about life right now.
How would you describe your musical sound to our readers? Are there any musicians who influence or inspire the music you write?
I’m first and foremost a songwriter, so it’s very story driven. I hope to take the listener on a kind of dark fairy tale journey with my sound and instrumentation. Many amazing artists and bands have influenced me as an artist throughout the years. Like Björk, Frank Ocean, Joni Mitchell, Prince, Bon Iver, Florence and the machine and many more.
I also read on your website that you are a multi-instrumentalist, what instruments do you currently know how to play? Are there any instruments that you’d like to learn?
Haha, someone else wrote that bio, I wouldn’t call myself a multi-instrumentalist… I play piano and a little bit of guitar, that’s pretty much it hah! Violin would be so cool, or saxophone… Maybe some day!
What is one thing that our readers would be surprised to learn about you?
Hmm… maybe that weightlifting is one of my favorite hobbies!
Now that is a fantastic fun fact! And if you had the opportunity to collaborate with a current or former Eurovision artists on a new single, who would you choose to work with and why?
Oh that’s a hard one… But I’d go with Måneskin! Their new album is great and I love their vibe.
What motivated you to submit an entry to UMK this year? Was this the first time you’d ever considered submitting, or have you tried to compete in the selection before?
I’ve been asked to join for a few years now, but it just didn’t feel right before. But this time I decided I’ll join if I write a song I feel is right. I did and here we are!
Your song “Something to Lose” tells a story of having something to fight for and this message is expertly painted by your use of instrumental texture and harmonies. How did you settle on this message for the entry, and what was the songwriting process like?
Thank you x I write lots of ideas in my notes app on my phone and the title line I had written down a few days before the session. We started vibing over some piano chords and the line and theme came to mind, it just fit perfectly to the vibe of the chords we had.
The writing process was super fun and chill with two of my favorite collaborators. We had a blast, but we didn’t even realize how amazing the song was until afterwards. We were all like “wow, wait, what just happened?” haha.
If you were to describe your plans for the UMK live-show using only a few words – what would you say?
Emotional, dramatic, soft, cathartic. That’s all I’m gonna say!
Now I have to ask you about Eurovision, since the winner of UMK will go on to represent Finland in Liverpool this May. What does a typical Eurovision week look like for you all, and are you big fans of the contest yourself?
I’ve been watching the Eurovision final every year since I was a kid. I love Eurovision and the whole idea behind it. I hope I’ll get to go to Liverpool! And if not I’ll definitely be watching anyways.
In closing, do you have a final message you’d like to share with the readers of ESCUnited?
Go check out my UMK – song Something To Lose if you haven’t already. Hope you like it xx And remember to watch the UMK final on February 25th!! I’m getting nervous already! All the best and take care xx Lx
Lxandra is one of seven artists competing in the Finnish national selection UMK on February 25th, which will determine the country’s artist for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool this coming May.
Are #YOU team Lxandra for Finland? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
