If you’re new to Baker’s music, a great starting point is his the title track of his 2021 LP, ‘Love Levitates’. The song’s opening lines – “Looking at Earth at night from space / Lights intertwine like DNA” – were inspired by a Discovery Channel documentary about light pollution. After viewing footage of major cities taken from space, Baker landed on this simile for what binds the global population. ““It’s [about] intrinsic love and universal love and a oneness or symmetry, ecstasy, all of those things,” says Baker. “It’s about a higher consciousness.”
‘Love Levitates’ is a five-track opus of life, an intimate yet expansive journey of heritage, love, friendship, observation, and beyond. The LP has been attracting accolades from around the world with American singer and songwriter India Arie claiming, “Louis Baker, you sing my soul”, and Rolling Stone magazine describing Baker’s sound as “luxurious funk-soul”.
Baker has fans around the globe resulting in more than 30 million Spotify streams, and nominations for prestigious music awards including the APRA Silver Scroll Award, Taite Music Prize and Aotearoa Music Awards.
But even with this international acclaim, Baker still has his heart placed firmly in Aotearoa and his whakapapa, as can be seen in his track ‘The People’, filmed on streets of his hometown of Wellington, with appearances by his father, friends and mates. “I wanted this video to reflect my norm, where I grew up, the diversity amongst our small but international city, the warmth, the art, the people. There are nods to musical minds that have paved the way before us.”
For Dunedin Arts Festival, Knox Church will be converted into an intimate and atmospheric venue, showing Baker at his absolute best.
DETAILS:
ODT Dunedin Arts Festival, Louis Baker at Knox Church. Fri 14 Oct at 8pm.
https://dunedinartsfestival.co.nz/event-calendar/music/louis-baker
