“Butter-Fly” Review: Lava La Rue Invites Us to New Horizons by Digging Deep

After listening to “Butter-Fly" for the eleventh time through, your Spotify Activity might look strange. But, if your friends heard the London singer and rapper’s Feb. 19 release too, they would understand. That is how addicting British artist Lava La Rue’s newest EP is, and it’s about time the world takes the “Tube” to destination Lavatown.

Lava La Rue is a 22-year-old Black queer multi-hyphenate from West London whose alternative R&B style is captivating audiences worldwide. “Butter-Fly” is a psychedelic departure from the underground hip-hop style of their first studio album, “Stitches” (2019). The five-song set in “Butter-Fly” is a vulnerable dive into La Rue’s conscious, a soundtrack to their life. Through this exploration of identity and love, specifically queer love, La Rue declares a sort of manifesto by which they choose to live. To call “Butter-Fly” refreshing would be an understatement; instead, the transportive soundscape is altogether world-altering.

The set begins with “Magpie,” arguably the best song on the EP. Immediately, listeners are invited to La Rue’s world through liquid gold instrumentals full of synths and electric guitars serving as a backdrop for La Rue’s effortlessly dreamy vocals and smooth rap style. The meaning behind “Magpie” became clearer with the music video release: “The MAGPIE video is supposed to be a personification of London’s subcultural history timeline & many ways British Caribbean sound system culture,” La Rue said on Instagram. What is so fascinating is that this intricacy abundantly apparent in “Magpie,” from its cultural significance, to the production, to La Rue’s ability to world-build in a three-and-a-half minute song.

“Angel,” featuring London-based singer-songwriter Deb Never, is a simultaneously groovy and emotional funk ballad bound to get stuck in listeners’ heads. The song depicts the feelings of nostalgia felt by two people for a love that feels so tangible, so physically close, yet painful as the lovers are worlds apart. “Angel” ultimately portrays love lost, inviting the listener to dance to momentarily escape the pain.

“Goofy Hearts Club,” the EP’s longest track, is an experiment on its own, and a beautiful one at that. “Goofy Hearts Club” allows us to understand La Rue’s inner-turmoil: “We in a deadly game and / Maybe I'm just into the thrill of that." La Rue finds themself at a crossroads in their co-dependent relationship: “Oh, it'll be so much better with you by my side / I'm done ringing your phone / Tell me that you want it, show me you adore me.” This dream-like exploration of unrequited love is the honest conversation we are often too scared to have.

Embodying queer love as resistance, as agency, and as world-building is a key component of La Rue’s work, and “G.O.Y.D.” is the EP’s flagship queer anthem. “G.O.Y.D.,” which features singer-songwriter Clairo, is a response to Clairo’s 2018 “B.O.M.D.” In the song, La Rue proposes to be more than just friends. Whether in an actual conversation or a day-dream, La Rue’s lyrics are directed at their “friend,” identifying the palpable tension between the two, the overly friendly gestures, and the life of love they could be sharing. “G.O.Y.D.” is also significant in its showcasing of La Rue’s ability to rap, an ode to La Rue’s entry point into music. They keep it smooth but fast-paced, drawing on histories of the underground Black British hip hop scene.

La Rue ends with their personal history-turned-manifesto, “Lift You Up,” featuring artist and remixer Karma Kid. La Rue delves into the hardships they faced growing up in West London, in school and foster care, having to face a capitalist and misogynistic world with little to no one by their side. Of course, La Rue is now a rapidly-growing artist rewriting the alt R&B music scene and finally getting the attention they deserve, but “Lift You Up” is their origin story that contextualizes La Rue’s creativity and complexity — the backbone to “Butter-Fly.”

The EP’s single downfall comes in its melding of the latter three songs, where it is especially hard to differentiate “Goofy Hearts Club” and “G.O.Y.D.” when listening to the body of work in its entirety. Their openings, though instrumentally distinct, carry similar patterns of entry into the lyrics. However, this is a small price to pay for the end product of a cohesive experience that delivers a stunning auditory biopic of La Rue’s own dimension.

It is clear “Butter-Fly” is the manifestation of Lava La Rue’s heart and soul. Here is an artist who does everything in their own way. Every project of theirs has a big splash of La Rue, whether an outfit or fashion campaign, whether an artists’ collective or music project. “Butter-Fly”’s world-changing sound experience is indeed the world La Rue is building for themself through their artistry, unapologetically Lava La Rue. How about we stay in Lavatown for a bit longer?