Lara Andallo

21-year-old Lara Andallo is one of the young pioneers of Sydney’s growing R’n’B scene. Known for her rhythmic stylings over bouncy beats, she’s done a complete 180° in this live performance. In Mood on the Roof’s 2021 debut, Lara Andallo’s vocals glisten as she strips back “When The Lights Go Out” – the follow-up single from her 2020 debut EP, “For Her”.

After signing to Warner Music, Lara set off to Los Angeles in 2019 to tease out her musical vision through collaboration. “One part of that song [When The Lights Go Out], I co-wrote with Scott Effman on my last day before I was going to the airport. And then I revisited it with a new beat over in Sydney, in my room,” says Lara.

Lara says that the track wasn’t inspired by isolation, but introspection – the relevance to the state of the world was just good timing. “The whole song is kind of about how during the day, we’re so occupied by life and just everything going on around us. But once we’re in our rooms or in bed and when the lights go out, that’s when we’re left alone with our thoughts and all our insecurities, doubts all come out when the lights go out and we’re literally in bed alone and we have to deal with our thoughts,” she says.

Lara is excited that her continued growth in music will let her leave her distinctive mark on R’n’B as a young, Filipino woman. “For me, I’ve never really had, especially someone who’s Filipino in R&B or in the mainstream music world to really look up to, growing up. So for me, I want to have that representation and be that representation as well for other girls like me.”

Keep an eye on what’s to come from Lara Andallo in 2021 through her socials below!

Alongside her spot-on vocal runs, Lara Andallo’s sound pays close attention to rhythm and flow. Lara says that in her first few L.A. sessions, the producers and writers encouraged her to freestyle, and that it’s become a core part of her creative process.

“The process of collaborating, for me, is I really like getting into the studio with people. I like that energy and I guess after isolation and COVID and having that period that we were all by ourselves, that was one of the first things that I definitely wanted to do. And yeah, for me, I write a lot through freestyle. So getting into the studio with a producer and just getting that beat up and then just being able to go into the booth and build from there. That’s really how I like to create,” she says.

After a lifetime in the performing arts, Lara is a triple threat – a vocalist, dancer, and instrumentalist. But even with those years under her belt, she told us about the artist that inspired her to push it into a career.

“One of the main artists that really influenced me to become an artist, and even have the confidence, is definitely Kehlani for me. She was always pushing the self-confidence, self-empowerment on her socials when socials were only just starting to become a thing. And at the time, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. So seeing someone like her really pushing for that … And then also doing R&B, that she was probably the first artist that I really identified with R&B in my generation. I was like, “Oh, that’s the music that I really like. And that’s the music I want to write,” says Lara.