From international chart toppers to personal roots Lukas Graham, is embarking on his most personal musical chapter yet.
Lukas: "Why not now?" was kind of my conclusion! I think it is an age thing. I have dreamt of making a folky album since I was a boy and ended up in this sort of accidental pop lane. I am 37 with three kids; if I don't do it now, I'll be an old man before I do!
It took about 13 months from writing the songs to calling up friends in New York, Nashville, and Manchester. We even had Michael McGoldrick record Uilleann pipes, flutes, and whistles on a couple of tracks. It has been an incredible process reconnecting with everyone.
Lukas: Creating it proved how much American influence has seeped into my music over the years. Had I made this as a young man, or had my father been alive, it would have been way more heavily Irish and Scottish. In fact, if my dad were here, his main criticism would probably be that it wasn't Irish enough and was too American!
When I was in New York recording backing vocals with friends who knew my dad, they talked about how proud he would be and how much he would love the instrumentation. It took me by surprise how many old feelings from his passing suddenly surfaced again.
Lukas: I felt confident because I love the songs so much. At their core, they are still big pop songs, we have just recorded them with traditional folk instrumentation. It was important to me not to just make a vintage sounding traditional folk record, but to merge the two worlds into something fresh.
Q: You grew up in Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen. How did that unique environment shape you as an artist?Lukas: It made me very open minded. When I travel, I love finding local pockets, like authentic street food spots in Southeast Asia where tourists usually don't go. Christiania gave me that communal spirit. I prefer to create with people rather than sitting in a room writing by myself.
Q: One of the new tracks, "Before You Go," feels deeply personal. What made you decide to put it out?
Lukas: Honestly, I think it is the best song on the album. I wrote it for my friend Thomas, who passed away last year. We sang it live at his funeral and kept playing it at every live show since. Audiences started singing along to it even though it wasn't released anywhere yet, it felt like the song was asking to come out. Someone out there needs it in their life.
Q: You are touring with Ed Sheeran this summer. What makes your friendship work so well?Lukas: We have so much in common, our Irish heritage, rap and hip hop influences, and our kids are the same age. In this business, it is hard to find people who understand what it is like to miss your child's 10th birthday because you are on the road. Most of my friends have regular jobs. It is great having chats with Ed about how we navigate fatherhood while chasing these big dreams around the world.
Lukas: Absolutely. There is that line at the end where I sing: "I hope my children come and visit once or twice a month." Now I am like, in ten years at least one of my kids will be living away from home and I will be begging: "Please visit once or twice a WEEK!" Being a parent is just a crazy, wonderful thing.
Lukas: Writing more music, obviously, I want to keep touring until I am a very old man! But beyond that, I am really focused on making live touring more sustainable.
Back in 2022, we teamed up with a windmill company to power six major outdoor shows using wind charged batteries, and they worked even better than expected. Touring isn't naturally green, there are heavy trucks and diesel generators involved. I really want to push boundaries in the coming years and help build efficient battery tech so we can run arena and festival shows on renewable energy.
You can pre-order the new album HERE
