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Jeremy Williams-Chalmers
Arts Correspondent
@jeremydwilliams
6:00 AM 30th May 2020
arts

LEA - Treppenhaus

 
Over the course of the last four years, LEA has gone from being a celebrated YouTube star to one of Germany's most prominent popstars. Having introduced her recording intentions with 2016's innovative Vakuum, her rounded piano-centric sound really resonated with audiences with the release of 2018's Zwischen meinen Zeilen. Currently starring on the hit series Sing meinen Song – Das Tauschkonzert, the release of her third studio album could not have a more prominent platform to propel it up the charts.



Having started her album campaign with the very direct anthem Prolog, it was clear that LEA was taking the poppier elements of her first two studio albums and honing in on them for her third, but without losing the piano-centred focus fully from her sound.

With the album's second single and title track, Treppenhaus, joining Wunderkerzenmenschen and Halb so viel as her strongest cuts to date, the level at which her audience set their expectations for the third album was raised even higher.

Impressively Treppenhaus is not the strongest song on the album. It is still a stunning radio moment, but LEA manages to supersede its appeal with several of the albums moments. While Sie offers the first moment of glory, it is the dance-tinged Kaputt that reveals a new career high.

Yet even better is yet to come. Harking back to the sound that defined her debut album Vakuum, the biting and questioning Deine Nummer is a real revelation, while the truly luscious album closer Elefant shows why LEA's ballads have been so celebrated.

Treppenhaus is LEA's most diverse collection to date. Aware of her sound and audience, she has pushed the boundaries both lyrically and sonically to craft a truly moving record.