Marius Lauber is a Viersen, Germany-born, Cologne, Germany-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and creative mastermind behind the acclaimed solo recording project Roosevelt. Lauber exploded into the international scene with the release of “Elliot,” the title track off his debut EP, 2013’s Elliot: “Elliot” received praise from Pitchfork, who named the track one of their “Best New Tracks” that year.
2015’s double A-side single “Night Moves”/”Hold On,” helped the German artist further establish a warm, synth-based Euro-disco sound. Lauber’s 2016 self-titled, Roosevelt debut featured attention grabbing tracks like “Colours” and “Moving On” and was supported with tours with Hot Chip, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Crystal Fighters. Glass Animals, Jax Jones,Truls, Sundara Karma, Luca Vasta and Kakkmaddaf all remixed album tracks.
Lauber’s sophomore album, 2018’s Young Romance found the acclaimed German singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer moving away from the slickly produced EDM towards a warmer, guitar and synth-based sound paired with a wistful escapism. Thematically, the album fittingly focused on — well, young romance, including the trials, tribulations and frustrations of falling in and out of love while featuring a narrator, desperately trying to find some semblance of home while on the road. As Lauber explained in press notes at the time, the album was inspired by deeply personal events: “I ended up processing a lot of emotions that I felt during my youth. Faded relationships that haunted me for years, being on the road for what seemed like forever and the constant search for a place to call home.”
Released earlier this year, Lauber’s third Roosevelt album, Polydans may arguably be one of his most critically and commercially successful efforts to date: Lauber has done live sessions for SPIN Magazine, Fender’s Artist Check-In and KEXP. The acclaimed German artist has also been interviewed by Apple Music 1, Filter, Rolling Stone, Interview Magazine, Clash Magazine, Earmilk, BrooklynVegan, Talkhouse and several others. Since the release of Polydans, Lauber has been rather busy, writing two new singles “On My Mind” and “About U” that serve as an extension to his latest album.
Lauber’s latest single, the achingly wistful yet sensual “On My Mind” is centered around shimmering synth arpeggios, Nile Rodgers-like guitar, a motorik-like groove, Lauber’s plaintive vocals expressing longing for that one who got away, and who the song’s narrator may never get back in their lives. Sonically “On My Mind” and its companion “About U” are deeply inspired by 00s French Touch — and as a result, find the German producer crafting euphoric bangers along the lines of Homework-era Daft Punk, Stardust and others.
My Mind’ and ‘About U’ were two demos that I was working on while I was finishing Polydans late last year,” Lauber explains in press notes. “I listened to a lot of early 2000s French House music at the time, so the songs were heavily influenced by acts like Stardust, Roger Sanchez, Benjamin Diamond or Room 5. The sounds of these records are still in my memory from watching MTV as a kid, so there was something really nostalgic in producing this release. I didn’t want to put them on Polydans, as they are sounding more electronic, less organic as the album, however they still feel like the same chapter to me. These will be part of the deluxe version of the album, that will come out later this year.