Made up of vocalist Jillian Hervey and producer Lucas Goodman, New York-based duo Lion Babe craft a unique version of spacy, evocative R&B. Coining the term "futuristic nostalgia" to describe their sound, they incorporated chopped-up samples, organic instruments, and atmospheric electronics on early singles as well as their 2016 debut full-length Begin. Lion Babe began when Hervey and Goodman met at a party on the campus of Boston's Northeastern University. Hervey, the daughter of Vanessa Williams, overheard tracks that Goodman, aka Astro Raw, had created and struck up a conversation with him. Soon the two were collaborating on music together, slowly trading ideas and fleshing out beats. Their first song, "Treat Me Like Fire," was uploaded to SoundCloud in November 2012, and they were subsequently snapped up by Polydor in the U.K. Lion Babe resurfaced in December 2014 with a self-titled four-track EP that featured "Treat Me Like Fire," as well as "Jump Hi," a strutting number on which Childish Gambino made an appearance. After a highlight contribution to Disclosure's second album Caracal ("Hour Glass"), as well as a stint opening for that duo on tour, Lion Babe completed Begin, their debut album. It was issued in February 2016 and featured multiple highlights, including the Pharrell Williams-produced "Wonder Woman." For the next few years, the band kept fans sated with a steady stream of new singles and festival appearances. 2017 saw them issuing new songs "Rocket" and "Hit the Ceiling" as well as remix collections for both tracks. The next year they released several new songs including "Honey Dew" and "The Wave" (featuring Leikeli47), and the next year they preceded the release of their second album with single "Western World." The album featured guest spots by Raekwon, Bilal, and the previously released single with Leikeli47, and was released in March of 2019. ~ Andy Kellman
