INDEPENDENT SONG RELEASE: Lauren Lakis, “Right Now”

LA’s Lauren Lakis is a garage rock songstress who believes in experiencing everything: writing poetry with homeless drug addicts, teaching English in Prague and Tokyo, working as a stripper and yoga teacher in Baltimore, mentoring autistic kids…whatever, just try it. Drink it in. It’s all fuel for inspiration.

‘Right Now’ is a single from her newest album release entitled Sad Girl Breakfast. The song concerns the heaviness of existence. While it might be great to dare new things, it’s not always easy feeling them so deeply. Lakis elaborates: “Malaise is the word that probably best describes that feeling. But it’s also suggesting that it isn’t a solitary experience, and that we can find comfort in each other.”

The song churns forward with an industrial resonance and goth-rock spirit. “Space and time / I don’t want it,”Lakis sings, dreamy and nearly breathless. A fuzzed-out electric guitar gains volume over a slow, muffled electra-beat. “The future and the past are always near…Bang your head on my chest, my dear…right now, now / Right now…” Her voice burns with urgency, even when fluttering into a higher register.

The intensity of the music builds, transgressive and provocative, reaching its climax as Lakis begins humming. Just when it seems the song might overwhelm itself, it ends with a soft roar, like that of a large piston engine cooling itself after being run too hot. The song is sexy as hell is what I’m saying. Unsurprisingly, Lakis wrote the tune during a seance in a creepy, abandoned dungeon while touring Washington state because of course she did.

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INDEPENDENT EP RELEASE: CarnyMusic, “CarnyMusic”

Mike Carnahan’s “CarnyMusic” is a solo project from the lead singer of The Green Door, which also happens to be the name of a cannabis store in San Francisco, Carnahan’s hometown. Not sure why I’m pointing this out, except that it just seems to fit. The Green Door are one of those trippy, Cali groove bands, same as Swell or even The Grateful Dead, whose tunes go best with bong hits. I love heady music, so I’m excited to hear Carnahan’s new EP, expecting the same sonic experimentation and strong lyrics.
The release begins with the sad acoustic number “Riptide,” which lets me know right away this going to be a more mournful and contemplative endeavor from what Carnahan has released previously. “It’s hard to stay long,” he sings, “when I’m just hanging on.” Uh-oh, what happened? However, the slow-strummed acoustic guitar does make a nice compliment to Carnahan’s sometimes unsteady voice.
The folk feeling continues with “Beetle in the Sand,” my favorite. It's about wanting protection f…

INDEPENDENT SONG RELEASE: Elise Hayes, “Giving Up”

“You never wanted me to get that tattoo,” sings Nashville recording artist Elise Hayes. “I’m going to get that tattoo.”
This the start to her new single “Giving Up,” (co-written with Johnny Mo) which is about not giving up, an ode to post-relationship defiance. There is freedom in being your own person again, even if you were the one dumped.
The music itself is a tapestry of sorts: sonic styles patchworked together into a compact yet pleasing mix. Pounding drums and sitar give way to softer guitar, then back to drums, which sometimes beat rapidly as a door knock. A wake up call. The song often stops and starts as if her thoughts are coming to her in jagged fits as she’s singing them.
“You never wanted me to have that haircut / Well, now I do…”
It’s a hard style to pull off but Hayes does it effortlessly. She is a strong singer/songwriter, doubtlessly helped in her confidence from being featured in TV shows, such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” MTV’s “Siesta Key,” and others She has also written s…

INDEPENDENT SONG RELEASE: Ethos, “V: Parents”

Ethos is the stage name for Alex Hlavna, a 19-year veteran of the Cleveland, Ohio music scene where he played guitar, bass, and drums on numerous recordings. He has now released his own song entitled “V: Parents” from his new album Ten Commandments. The V is the Roman numeral for 5, as in the 5th Commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother.”

Each track on the album is titled this way, named after a commandment. Is this some type of “religious rap” or is Ethos being metaphoric? The actual definition of “ethos” is “the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.” Judging from such a moniker and from statements he’s made in interviews, it seems his goal is more about making observations, rather than instructing us that “thou shalt not whatever.” It’s a more provocative approach.

The song is a funk-bassline over an electronic beat and soft synths. Meanwhile Ethos’ voice is anything but soft as he raps about honoring your parent, yet…

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