In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Lauren Morrow’s novel Little Movements is a mesmerizing and engrossing debut.
The Los Angeles Times wrote of the book:
“With comic verve, Morrow’s novel dances on the page as she explores the dilemma of being a Black artist who is expected by traditionally white arts organizations to represent their notions of Blackness.”
In her own words, here is Lauren Morrow’s Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel Little Movements:
My debut novel, LITTLE MOVEMENTS, is about dance, which means it’s inevitably about music. From Layla’s (the protagonist’s) earliest memories, music is central to the creation of movement, and the two art forms are in constant conversation throughout the book.
The book is also about love and heartbreak and memory, and music, for me, has also been central to those experiences too. A certain song might bring me back to a distinct feeling of hope, or longing, or devastation. A time and place I can access almost only if I hear those chords, those lyrics. And so, this list not only includes songs featured in the book, but also songs I listened to across the course of writing this book and therefore inspired some of the feelings that emerge over its pages.
- Moses Sumney, “Doomed”: I adore Moses Sumney, and I knew from the earliest drafts that at the characters in the book were dancing to his music. His voice is so ethereal in this song, absolutely haunting. And the lyrics, “Am I doomed?”, loom over this section of the book. It feels to Layla, in many ways, that she is.
- Nils Frahm, “Some”: My most played artist on Spotify for the past few years has been Nils Frahm, and it’s because he’s been the soundtrack to my writing practice. His music is so beautifully ambient, and while some of it is a bit more electronic (I had to decide between this song and “Says”) “Some” is a quite new classical song that reflects the isolation Layla feels for much of the novel.
- Solange, “Weary”: Lyrics from this song are the epigraph to a section of the book. Layla is tired, being pulled in all directions, and I would have included so many more of these lyrics in the book were there no rules (as I learned, there are!). At one point she says, “I’m gonna look for my body, yeah. I’ll be back real soon.” I don’t know what that means but I agree. And the end of the chorus, when her voice is layering over itself, “And do you belong?” Then just one single Solange: “I do.”
- Solange, “F.U.B.U.”: Something changed for me when Solange came onto the scene. Her appreciation for design, dance, underappreciated musicians, culture, literature. It’s like every song is just for me. And this one is a fitting score for the dancers when it makes its appearance in the novel. “This shit is for us.”
- Kendrick Lamar, DNA.: Like F.U.B.U., this song comes after a pivotal scene related to race and politics, and the dancers blast it in the studio. The song explores the complexity of being Black and what we carry with us, and the cast leaves it all on the dance floor.
- SZA, Seek & Destroy: This is another epigraph song, and I love it’s destructive energy. Sometimes you just have to blow it all up.
- Frank Ocean, Biking (ft. Jay-Z and Tyler the Creator): Somehow there’s no Frank in the novel, which is my bad! It’s hard to choose just one song by him, but I listened to this a lot in the early days of drafting and revising the book, especially when I was, that’s right, biking. If you’ve never cried while biking, I highly recommend playing this song while riding down a quiet street on a breezy day. You’ll reach catharsis while feeling kind of hard core. Always wear a helmet.
- Whitney Houston, “My Love Is Your Love”: There’s a childhood memory in the book where Layla choreographs a dance to this song. I remember loving all of Whitney’s songs as a kid, and I still do. Her voice is unlike anything we’ll ever know again. Little Layla in the book is equally taken by her voice and performs cheesy little dance moves to the song for her dance class, much to everyone’s delight. There’s a deep mother-daughter connection, in the scene and in the song itself (it’s heartbreaking now to hear Bobbi Christina’s tiny voice in the background), which is crucial to the book overall.
- Mariah Carey: “Emotions”: The aforementioned scene was originally set to this song, because well, as a kid, I choreographed a dance to it. I think we, as a culture, have a much better appreciation for Mariah Carey now than we did when I was younger. Say what you will, this is a perfect pop song. I laugh when I hear her hit those notes at the end—no human should be able to do that. Flex, Mimi!
- Beyonce, Sorry (Original Demo): If you haven’t heard the ethereal version of this fan favorite, do yourself a favor. It’s my preferred version. I listened to this on repeat in early 2020, before I even knew this book was in me, but I think it was part of its gestation. It’s such a soft, beautiful reframing of the more aggressive track, but the lyrics are nearly the same, more devastating in some moments. While it’s not in the book, I imagine this song loops in Layla’s mind, just as it did for me, and it helps her power through.
- LCD Soundsystem, Dance Yrself Clean: Perhaps the thesis of the book. And that long delayed beat drop is a lesson in patience. Sometimes you have to wait for things to take off.
Lauren Morrow studied dance and creative writing at Connecticut College and earned an MFA in fiction from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program. She was a Kimbilio Fellow and an Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow and is the recipient of two Hopwood Awards, among other prizes. Her writing has appeared in Ploughshares and the South Carolina Review. She worked in publicity at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and is now a senior publicist at Dutton, Plume, and Tiny Reparations Books. Originally from St. Louis, she lives in Brooklyn.