3rd September, 2008

JUSTIN MICHAEL

Album: Our Love Is Due (EP)

Artist: Lauren Thomson

Year: 2007
Label: Pure Entertainment
Web: www.laurenthomson.net
 
In A Word: Warm

"Insightful, raw, honest and just the medicine for a searching soul who likes to colour the room with music."

This is a late night around the campfire that’s good for the soul. It’s got a touch of Tiddas a splash of Kasey Chambers, and a maybe even some Jars of Clay (the cruisey stuff).

The sounds are uncomplicated and rootsy. Right from the gritty Hammond organ to the melodica, these are sounds that carry a certain passion that embodies a traditional approach to making music with an attention to detail in the recording.

The opening cut Oh Daddy It’s Alright introduces us to the melancholic and longing strains of a vocalist who lives her songs. There is raw honesty to the vocal as there is to the musicianship. Immediately engaging with a familiar rootsy shuffle the lyric exudes hope saying "well there ain’t no need to cry cause the Lord is good and He’s on our side, oh Daddy it’s alright cause we will fly".

Autumn Rain speaks boldly of refreshing saying, "I am driving home in the rain / but I’d rather be walking with you / to be watered and clean / to climb a mountain in bare feet / of I want to walk home with you".

Our Love Is Due is both the title track and the reference point for why this EP works. It would be just as happy to play in a reflective moment of Gray's Anatomy as it would to bring people together during a slow dance on a Saturday night. It’s just flat out pretty.

So there it is, Lauren Thomson’s first five track offering. Insightful, raw, honest and just the medicine for a searching soul who likes to colour the room with music. Now that I’ve listened I think I’ll go call my wife and let her know I’ve booked her for a slow dance tonight...mmm, warm.