Lauren Lakis seeks refuge in memories of innocence on bittersweet “There”
Lauren Lakis has a unique ability for rendering the tumultuousness and beauty of human emotion in song in a manner than defies easy categorization. The latest single from her upcoming LP Deadlights, “There,” is a showcase for these skills, tapping into the bittersweet saudade of memory with deft attentiveness and an immediately moving sense of empathy that does not compromise on weighty impact.
Building upon a foundation of heavy, churning guitar that Lakis has made an integral part of her signature sound, “There” quickly pivots in a brighter direction by introducing an element of childlike wonder that overflows from the undercurrent of densely composed gloom. Vocals rise and fall with a lullaby-like cadence, punctuated by brilliant beams of guitar that pierce their way through a canopy of sadness and solitude to allow glowing rays of hopeful sunlight to warm an upturned face swinging from the boughs below. Lakis is seeking recognition and solace, a yearning for the connection of warm intimacy and quiet comfort that exists uniquely between mother and child, left far behind on the road to adulthood. It is here that “There” exists, preserved in amber and given voice through Lakis’ remarkable songcraft. A refuge from the turbulence of existence and a desire to return, if only for a moment, to a time of innocence when the world was smaller and the shadows of fear and uncertainty would evaporate within the shelter of a parent's loving embrace.
Performing in the open surrounded by a springtime landscape lush with fresh growth and illuminated by the incandescent glow of the setting sun, “There” blooms as a visual representation of the coexistence of beginnings and endings captured behind the shimmering scanlines of analog memory. Interspersed with home movies of happy days and a recurring metaphor of rose blossoms as mile markers of joy and sadness along life’s winding road, “There” breathes with the calming sensation of catharsis that exists in the wake of overwhelming emotion and crackles with the electric sensation of fingertips run across the surface of a fading photograph, an enduring physical connection to people, places, and moments long past.
Deadlights releases May 8 via Riding Easy Records. Pre-order physical editions and pre-save on streaming here. Follow Lauren Lakis on Instagram.
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