Splendid solo debut where house move has really paid off.
Geography seems to be a vital component for many musicians and Lauren Morrow’s personal upheaval in 2017 seems to have worked wonders. Previously, Morrow had been part of Americana outfit The Whisky Gentry for more than a decade before deciding to go solo. With her husband and business/creative partner Jason they decided to move house and home from Atlanta to Nashville and almost immediately met producer Parker Cason, who became a mentor/song writing guru for the duo. Having been heavily influenced by 90’s alternative music, Britpop and 80’s New Wave, Morrow wanted to get out of the Americana mould and shake her musical wings in a different direction. ‘People Talk’ – her debut solo release – is the result of this new focus.
We open with a cracking track – ‘I’m Sorry‘ – with a suitably atmospheric start on a catchy guitar focused song with some effective strings mixed around the guitar playing. It’s about our tendency to argue with loved ones and just wanting the arguing to end. Superb stuff. The next two tracks segue into one another – which works really well. ‘Only Nice When I’m High‘/’People Talk‘ are both effective tunes, catchy and polished and Morrow’s vocals are great – she has a distinctive presence really suited to the style of music here. There’s synths and saxes in the mix and it all gels so well.
Things slow down for the moody ‘It’s You’ with some glorious piano tinkling and things get a little darker on ‘Nobody But Me’ where she defiantly sings “There ain’t no other woman I’d rather be” with a rocking guitar back-up. The mood changes again for the light hearted ‘Hustle’, about her frustration in having to hustle in life, with a lovely Jay Z reference.
Interestingly, Morrow lived for a time in her youth in Newcastle, before moving back to the States – and there are a wide range of styles and influences on display here – but all the better for it. The couple had to work really hard to get this album made, when Covid hit at the start of its recording – and all that hard work has really paid off. This is an assured, confident and really well made album – she should rightly be proud of it.
Classy stuff.
