Léon - "Surround Me"

Lotta Lindgren was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994. The product of a musical household, though she’s only 22, she has been writing songs for more than a decade. Growing up in Stockholm as the daughter of a composer and a cello player, she estimates she penned her first tune at age 8 or 9. “I had never had a boyfriend or anything, but I wrote love songs,” she remembers. “I was so inspired by Motown, I was like, I’m going to write about love too—even if I was 8. I did a song when I was 11, and I called it ‘As I Am With You.’ Really corny title.” 

Léon began her musical career as front-women of a hip hop and soul group in her teens before embarking on a solo career with producing partner Agrin Rahmani in 2015. She has cited Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Beyoncé, Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder as musical inspirations.

Her first single, "Tired of Talking", off her debut release, Treasure - EP, gained the support of Chris Anokute and the singer Katy Perry, and most recently appeared in Vogue Italia.

Léon subsequently signed with Columbia, and she hopes to release her debut album, already finished and entirely produced by Rahmani, this fall. “I knew about Columbia for years, because I knew that Beyoncé was signed there,” she says. “I’d be like, ‘One day, I'm gonna be at Columbia.’ My mom was like, ‘we’ll see.’ ”

In October 2016, Léon was confirmed to play at the 31st edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, Netherlands. In February 2017, Léon began her first North American headline tour in Boston. Her second EP, For You, was released on 3 March 2017.

So, today, with hazy skies and a warm heart, I choose León's "Surround Me" as my, all around and inside, from the inside out, you find it leaking out of the cracks in your heart, song for a, break open and laugh, shake out the sillies, fall into the wonderful Friday!