LAUREN RAY – We Will Need Courage
aaamusic | On 08, Aug 2016
The moody and expressive singer-songwriter mixes Americana with country and folk. She grew up living in South Africa, Poland, Austria and the U.K. and has been compared with Carole King, Norah Jones and Alison Krauss.
Her soulful debut album We Will Need Courage, released on 1st July, 2016 on Tamlan Records, was recorded in Nashville with producer Neilson Hubbard and sensitively looks at turbulent personal relationships.
In the graceful and intimate ‘Drive’ a couple discuss their uncertain future, whilst powerful ‘Come To Me’ weaves bitter-sweet lyrics and speaks of escaping troubled times. Gritty ‘Paying For Love’ ,written with the help of songwriters Ian Dench (Beyoncé, Jordin Sparks) and Martin Sutton (Leann Rimes, Lu Lu), is a complicated love song and optimistic ‘One Of The Lucky Ones’ has a relaxed and rhythmical feel.
The gentle piano led ‘Stay’ has great elegance and passion and darker ‘Man’, seen through the eyes of a child, describes a mother’s distress in an abusive relationship. Melodic ‘What Would You Do?’ looks at conflicting feelings, whilst concluding ‘Pull The Trigger’ is another of Lauren’s warm but understated songs.
Lauren Ray is a strong and uplifting singer-songwriter. Often joyful and energetic, We Will Need Courage also has slow, sultry and melancholic songs of great beauty. It’s a moving album. Listen carefully and you will capture some fine moments.
