Years active 2010 (2010)–present Website LemaitreMusic.com Origin Oslo, Norway (2010) | Labels Astralwerks Record label Sony Music | |
Albums Relativity by Night, Relativity 3, Relativity 2, Relativity 1, The Friendly Sound EP, Singularity, 1749 Members Ketil Jansen, Ulrik Denizou Lund Genres Electro house, French house, Electronics in rock music, Indie rock, Nu-disco Similar The Knocks, Jennie Abrahamson, Stanaj, Porter Robinson, Giraffage Profiles | ||
Lemaitre (pronounced [ləmɛtʁ]) is a Norwegian indie electronic duo hailing from Oslo. The duo consists of members Ketil Jansen and Ulrik Denizou Lund, who met originally as schoolmates in Lillehammer, in southeastern Norway. Jansen and Lund came together to form Lemaitre on 20 June 2010. Lemaitre currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Contents
- 20102014 Formation and early years
- Relativity series
- Joining Astralwerks
- 2014present 1749
- Appearances in media
- Songs
- References
Since the duo's inception in summer 2010, Lemaitre has released a number of EPs, including the Relativity Series: Relativity 1, 2, 3 and Relativity by Nite; The Friendly Sound; and Singularity.
The duo released their seventh EP, 1749, on 29 January 2016.
2010–2014: Formation and early years
During an interview, Lund and Jansen explained that the band is named after Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest who first proposed the Big Bang Theory and derived the physics concept now referred to as Hubble's Law. In a 2014 music discovery piece with Interview magazine, Jansen further added, "[Lemaitre] means 'master' in French", though the pair were unaware of this when first choosing a name for the project.
Lemaitre's first track was titled "Momentum", now dating 7 years since its initial release. This track was one of two tracks released prior to releasing their debut EP, The Friendly Sound—the other being "Primeval Atom".
Relativity series
Lemaitre is most commonly recognized for their series of EPs: the Relativity Series. This series consists of the following EPs: Relativity 1, Relativity 2, Relativity 3, and Relativity By Nite. The duo was praised for their use of all original samples.
Relativity By Nite was differed from most of Lemaitre's previous EPs in that it was longer in comparison to previous EP releases and almost entirely consisted of unheard remixes and instrumental pieces.
Lemaitre's third EP and second in the Relativity Series, Relativity 2, topped the Canadian charts and US iTunes electronic albums category during May of 2012. The EP went to top charts across a number of countries, placing #3 in Switzerland, #8 in Australia and #10 in France. Worldwide, Relativity 2 charted at #4 in iTunes' Pop category.
Joining Astralwerks
In January 2014, the duo signed to Astralwerks Records: home to notable acts, including Daft Punk, whom Lemaitre has previously referenced as a significant source of inspiration for the group's music style. Consequently, Lemaitre had the opportunity to work on remixes for other Astralwerks artists, such as Porter Robinson. Jansen and Lund are credited and featured on the song "Polygon Dust" from Porter Robinson's album, Worlds.
Furthermore, Lemaitre mentioned that the 'choice [to join Astralwerks] felt right', especially given that the label was home to some their own "sonic heroes", namely Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers.
2014–present: 1749
On 29 January 2016, the duo released their seventh EP, 1749. The name "1749" was inspired by the home Lemaitre has been living in during their time in Los Angeles—which also serves as a low budget–home studio for the pair. The home was previously owned by famed American rapper and producer Dr. Dre during the 1990s.
Following the release of 1749, Lemaitre embarked on a short 7-city European tour during February, including a stop in their homeland in Oslo, Norway. During this time, the music video for the song "Stepping Stone" featuring artist Mark Johns, a member of Skrillex's OWSLA creative collective, was released on February 18, 2016.
Jansen and Lund have appeared in festivals such as Coachella in April and Findings Festival at Norway in the late summer.
Appearances in media
Several of Lemaitre's songs were featured mainstream media adverts. The song "1:18" from Lemaitre's debut EP, The Friendly Sound appeared in Apple's product advert "Designed Together", which showcased the then newly released iPhone 5c's fluent integration with the iOS7 mobile operating system. Additionally, on 4 February 2016, Lemaitre's song "Cut To Black" received worldwide attention on Facebook for Facebook's 12th Anniversary, which came to be known as "Friends' Day", a feature that compiled of photos and memories commemorating friendship into user-specific videos.
In March 2016, it was announced that Lemaitre, along with other musical acts AlunaGeorge and Broiler, were collaborating with video game Minecraft to "perform a show in the game setting", as a part of Norwegian game conference The Gathering. The event provided users with the unique experience of a concert "simultaneously recreated within the Minecraft world [...] Just like a real concert[.]" This event was considered as the world's "first live Minecraft concert,".
On 4 October 2016, their song "Closer" was played in a video for the newly launched Google Pixel phone.
Songs
Closer1749 · 2016
Playing To Lose2016
Cut to BlackRelativity 3 · 2013