Song inspired by D.H Lawrence Novel The Rainbow out today!

JJ took a particular interest in Lawrence’s portrayal of childhood, and the role parents play in shaping it in The Rainbow but also saw herself reflected in the women of the book - their longing, duty, expectation, constraint and search for a voice.

“Her father and her mother now met to the span of the heavens, and she, the child, was free to play in the space beneath, between.” – D.H. Lawrence, The Rainbow.

With Bertie’s words in mind, the Nottingham based artist began to ponder on the landscape of her own childhood in Nottinghamshire, intertwining her own experiences with Lawrence’s depiction of parent-child relationships.

The song also draws profound emotional inspiration from the loss of JJ’s father, which sits at the core of the lyrics.

This is the first single from JJ Lovegrove’s second album, which takes great influence from a number of Lawrence’s novels and poems, offering a glimpse into her upcoming cinematic record that she debuted at the D.H. Lawrence Music Festival at the museum back in September of this year.

“I’ve loved immersing myself in the work of D.H. Lawrence for this album. More than a century after The Rainbow was written, I still recognise so much of myself in the women he bravely portrayed. The longing, the constraint, the search for transcendence and a voice inside tight-knit working class communities. 

Spending time writing in the rooms he once lived in has been especially powerful; letting those walls, which once held his words, inform my own. Exploring these echoes has helped me understand the landscape of my own childhood & womanhood in a new way. Lawrence opened a doorway, for me to be braver about sharing my lived experience, finding my own narrative and giving it shape in sound. If people would like to follow along as I continue to explore and reinterpret Lawrence through the lens of a contemporary woman growing up in these same communities, they can join me on Substack where I’m documenting the entire journey of the album.”

Out today, Friday 12 December, the song is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. You can keep up to date with what JJ Lovegrove is up to and the progression of her Lawrence inspired project on her Substack (Opens in a new window).