Harrison Lipton | Loveliness | Album Review

Harrison Lipton’s first full-length album, “Loveliness,” is the culmination of a lifetime of listening and learning. From performing gospel music during his Jewish childhood to producing on iMacs in a small room in his high school, Lipton’s life has been permeated by melodies and harmonies.

“Being a listener has really inspired me,” Lipton says, when asked about what influences his work.

As a listener, Lipton has found a way to strike a balance between vocal-centric melodies and indie-pop production. While holding on to emotional lyricism, inspired by artists like Aretha Franklin and Sade, Lipton dove into the depths of digital production to piece together the environments created in the tracks of “Loveliness.”

“I love that old stuff. The old stuff is the good stuff,” Lipton says about the music that began shaping his artistry and musical intentions at a young age. But as a producer coming of age in the 21st century, Lipton’s equally as comfortable writing music on a Macbook as he is on an instrument. Taking his dad’s drum kit from the 1960s, Lipton sampled and programmed each individual sound, as well as recording live tracks with his dad as well as his fellow bandmates. As a teenager, Lipton found solace and comfort in the company of creating music on audio production software.

“In middle school and high school, I’d moved from New York to a small town in Connecticut. I was the only boy with long hair, and I had a really hard time integrating,” Lipton says. “My first sexual experience was with a boy my age when I was 12. From then on, any time someone made a ‘gay joke’ or made a remark, I felt like it was somehow about me. I felt ashamed. I didn’t tell anyone about that experience for many, many years.”

For Lipton, the experience of being honest with himself and others about his sexuality took shape very recently. In adulthood, Lipton found liberation in the ability to express the undefined nature of his queerness.

“I like men, I like women, I like people outside of binary genders,” Lipton says. “I don’t really want to label myself.”

Instead, Lipton is much more interested in focusing his energy and attention on the act of creation. “The sheer amount of work of making this art is beautiful and staggering and makes it even more special.”

At a picnic table behind the bar at Cheer Up Charlie’s in Austin, Lipton tells me about his admiration for the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name.

“It was like 50 degrees and raining the entire time they filmed it,” Lipton says with excitement. “It was horrible weather. How did they do that?! They had actors chew on ice chips so they wouldn’t see their breath. There’s something so beautiful about seeing those behind-the-scenes moments about how art is made.”

To Lipton, there’s something magical and special about the ability to capture the feeling of a specific time and place. In the same way that the cast and crew of Call Me By Your Name portrayed the warmth and softness of summer in Italy, Lipton hopes to create and communicate specific realities in his music. To do so, and to do so well, takes time.

“The amount of work that goes into producing a piece of art is staggering,” Lipton says. “I probably spent over 3,000 hours making this album.”

Listening to “Loveliness,” Lipton’s intentionality behind crafting the 10-track album is clear. Each song is meticulously well-crafted, pairing emotionally charged vocals and lyrics with infectious melodies.

You can listen to "Loveliness" now on Spotify, and you can find Harrison Lipton on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.