No one could have predicted how much Labrinth's world would change when we first spoke over Zoom a few months ago. The musician was about to release his final album. Cosmic Opera Act I , and before the premiere of the third season «Euphoria» , the HBO series created by Sam Levinson that brought him widespread success and made his dark music synonymous with the show, was just a couple of months away.
Before the interview could be published, he shared that now infamous, provocative Instagram post criticizing the show, his record label, and the entertainment industry as a whole. "I'm done with this industry. F*ck Columbia [Records]. F*ck Euphoria »"," Labrinth wrote in a later-deleted post, receiving words of support from other musicians. "I'm leaving. Thank you and goodnight.".
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At the time of our first conversation, Labrinth was slated to collaborate with Hans Zimmer on the series' third and final season, which concluded this week. It was later revealed that he would not be participating in the season, leaving Zimmer to work on the music alone. Even before his challenge, Labrinth seemed to have already decided that composing wasn't his primary long-term goal.
«"You know what? I didn't ask to become a composer, I love making music," he said then. The Hollywood Reporter . "Series "« Euphoria »"I enjoyed it, and I've had offers for other projects, composition-wise and so on, but I realized I'm not Hans Zimmer in the sense that I can't work on every project… This season… I think they need Hans Zimmer's structure and sense of style, and I can add something where it's needed. That's how I see it.".
Regarding the aftermath, Labrinth recently wrote in a brief email exchange through his label representative, "I've said everything I needed to say about this situation," adding, "Right now I'm focusing on my album and the upcoming tour.".
Last week he released his new album, Cosmic Opera Act II , continuation Cosmic Opera Act I. As he worked on the album, he learned more and more about what he wanted from life and his career.
«"In the music industry, you can get trapped in this monotonous mission: 'I have to achieve all this. I have to become this and that,'" the 37-year-old producer told the publication. THR during that first Zoom meeting. At the time, he was promoting his first album in the series, working on his second, and preparing for Coachella.
Labrinth believes it's important to get to the root of what fuels insecurity, pride, or impostor syndrome. "Sometimes it's not even your own mission, it's not even your own purpose, it's given to you by the environment," he said. "[These albums were] just a way for me to create something that reminds me of what it takes to heal.".
Admittedly, it's the commercial aspect of the artist's life that creates the difficulty. "Maybe the album makes sense from that perspective," Labrinth said. "We've all been kids playing in our bedrooms with toys, and then that kid gets taken out and told, 'Go make money off those games you just played.'".
«"We live in a streaming world now, and in this environment, there's no longer a clear mechanism for attracting customers. Literally everyone is on a level playing field," he continues. "A guy sitting in his bedroom can become number one in the world just by working with his friends and chilling next to me, or someone who spent 20 years building their career. And now Beyoncé is competing with a young man sitting in his bedroom.".
In the first and second acts Cosmic Opera Labrinth used musical tracks to express his immediate feelings, including the composition "Prostitution" from Act II.
«"Sometimes being an artist in the industry is like being a prostitute," Labrinth wrote in a recent email.
For Labrinth work above Cosmic Opera proved particularly challenging. His laptop crashed, forcing him to re-record the tracks. He also felt the studio he was working in was "really weird" and gave the "wrong impression" of it, so he remixed it.
«"Perfectionism was a demon I had to come to terms with," he said. "The very idea of having to come to terms with that imperfection was difficult for me, and that's why I think this album is important to me creatively.".
Labrinth discovered that despite having his own sonic style, it wasn't always enough. "I always felt like I never had a real home," he said. "I have a style, but I never had a real home. It was both a gift and a curse.".
With this in mind, Labrinth sought to create integrity in Cosmic Opera album , while maintaining a multi-layered quality. The musician is drawn to artists who, even when things don't work out, are willing to experiment and evolve. He realized that his personal calling as an artist is exploration. While the technical aspects of the album required overcoming challenges, Labrinth never worried about the creative aspect.
As he himself said: «Actually, it’s very easy for me to create music.».
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