Laugh Now, Cry Later Neon Ion

• 1 Beautiful Thing 02:58
• 2 Desert Bloom 05:38
• 3 Laugh Now, Cry Later 05:21
• 4 Softer 04:12
• 5 Save Your Love for Me 04:19
• 6 This Is Our Story 03:29
• 7 Have a Good Try 01:35
• 8 Be Still I'm Falling 06:07
• 9 Unrehearsed Love 02:54
• Total Runtime 36:33

Info for Laugh Now, Cry Later

Organic and boundless soundscape: Neon Ion returns with her most personal and ambitious album to date. "Laugh Now, Cry Later" is a cinematic R&B universe where warm synths, playful vocal textures, and deep emotional impact meet in an expression that both comforts and challenges. The release marks a turning point in Natalie Sandtorv’s artistic journey, an album shaped by adversity, personal struggle, and musical rebirth.

The album was created over a long period of time, through different phases of life and extraordinary circumstances. At the beginning of the writing process, she went through a complicated period in which she felt that the dream of having children was slipping away, a chapter of life that had been postponed in order to focus on her career. The news hit hard, and the song "Laugh Now, Cry Later" was written shortly afterward. Months passed and an IVF process was about to begin, but suddenly Natalie became pregnant, and life smiled again.

In the midst of recording, and during her pregnancy, Sandtorv lost hearing in one ear due to a condition called Sudden Deafness, triggered by the pregnancy. Instead of putting the music on pause, this moment became a catalyst for change. The soundscape became more precise, more detailed, and more intuitive. A new way of listening led to a new way of singing and writing, while still retaining the essential Neon Ion elements.

Three singles have already pointed the way forward:

"Softer" – written in the aftermath of the diagnosis, a vulnerable yet powerful opening. "Laugh Now, Cry Later" – the title track, an explosion of emotion that breaks down the boundaries between jazz, soul, and pop.

"Desert Bloom" – inspired by nature’s rebirth, with a hypnotic and cinematic quality.

The album explores what happens when you have to rebuild yourself without losing your humour, desire, or forward momentum. It is not about vulnerability in itself, but about the strength of standing within it, and about the joy of creating something greater than the circumstances.

Jonas Hamre, saxophone
Kjetil Jerve, keyboards
Kai von der Lippe, keyboards
Kristian Jacobsen, bass
Ole Mofjell, drums

Neon Ion
award-winning vocalist Natalie Sandtorv's new project, blazes its trail from the heart of the ever-dynamic Norwegian music scene.

Natalie Sandtorv has already established herself as quite the stand-out artiste, and now presents to the world a neon-shimmering group with soulful beats and hyper-elastic genre-bending skills.

After living in Berlin and Copenhagen for the past 4 years, touring Europe with other projects, and working as a songwriter in L.A., she has now moved back to Norway and releases "Heart Echoes", a brand new album filled with fresh perspectives on familiar grooves, and new and unique blends of sonic colours, produced by Erlend Mokkelbost (Eberson, Mari Boine, Mosambique, etc). They have spent the past year recording and producing the album in Italy and Norway.

The music is a type of pop that is new to Norway, with Sandtorv's agile and luscious vocals riding a wave of retro-RnB expression, where Thundercat meets Little Dragon, and it radiates quality and creative abundance.

Natalie really chose from the top shelf when she assmbled the band: Keyboard-player Martin Vinje (Sigrid), Henrik Lødøen on drums, and bassist Kristian Jacobsen (both known from Rohey and Mosambique).

She has gained fantastic reviews for her live performances in the past and has been named by several international media outlets as "one to watch", including NME, The Line Of Best Fit, and Gaffa.

This album contains no booklet.