Lauv Explains His Need To Surpass Expectations During Album Release Party

Lauv is a man of many layers and that's an observation that can easily be drawn by looking at the cover art for his new album, ~how i'm feeling~. In a pensive state of mind, the singer is seen cross-legged while his miniature clones appear all over his body in colorful outfits. Per Lauv, it's meant to represent the different sides of him and attendees of his recent iHeartRadio Album Release Party can attest to that complex nature.

Rocking a loose button-up that put his jewelry and arm tattoos on display, the singer, 25, told an intimate crowd in Tribeca, New York on Monday night (March 9) that his intent for the project was to surpass previous expectations of his artistry. "I met you when I was 18. It was very much a chapter of my life, but it only represented one part of who I am. I felt like I boxed myself into this one aspect of my personality and I didn't allow myself to grow," Lauv explained to the audience. "I think there's a lot of pressure today. I hear a lot of people today talking about my personal brand, which I get it, but at the same time, I felt like it limited me a lot. As a human, there's so many aspects to we are. We're not just like one thing."

During the intimate set, the former SoundCloud sensation mixed in a little bit of the old with the new. Kicking things off with familiar tracks like his 2017 breakthrough single, "I Like Me Better" and "I'm So Tired...," the singer-songwriter-producer quickly ventured into cuts from his new collection, including "Modern Loneliness" and "Changes." Similar to his banter with the audience, the 11-song-set did justice in exemplifying Lauv's brand with honest reflections on anxiety, love and even his sensitive style of masculinity.

"How until now did we think that we wouldn't go through emotional struggles?" he asked the crowd on the topic of mental health. "It's almost at this point intuitive and so okay to think 'Everybody is struggling in their own way mentally and emotionally.' I think we got to be there to support each other. It's the human condition. What's the point of being alive if we're not going to be there for each other as people?"

While his new album album spans 21 tracks in length, with guest appearances from Troye Sivan, BTS, Anne-Marie, Alessia Cara, Lauv held his own through the almost-hour-long performance. Debuting several album cuts like "El Tejano," "Mean It," "Tattoos Together" and "Drugs & The Internet," the show felt like a walk through the male psyche. For his closer, the crooner opted for the bubbly sounds of "F**k I'm Lonely." He previously admitted that the track was one that he had "dying to release for a long time" alongside Anne-Marie. Though the budding Brit wasn't present, New York City played as his true show collaborator, with the crowd singing along to the mid-tempo track. Even if he's been feeling lonely, he definitely wasn't alone.

Photo: Rachel Kaplan for iHeartRadio