Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The empty promise is one that is hard to shake off. The desire in the hero of the story is often tempered by those around them who refuse to see their worth, or worse use them for their own advantage, reneging on assurances, pledges of fidelity scattered to the winds, it can become a dispiriting affair, a knock on effect that falls like dominos, but each one when turned face up revealing the double blank expression that leads ultimately to a dead-end.
The defiant and fearless will shrug their shoulders, they may be unseen for a while, preferring their own company in which to lick their wounds but they come out fighting, their mantra of I Won’t Stay Down is one to applaud, to see as affirming, and one that embodies the valiant spirit that comes from within one of Blues-Rocks sincere proponents, Lauren Anderson.
We have all made the rash promise, it is human nature but to starve someone of the truth in that moment is tantamount to neglect, and when one has something to say, no matter how strong the voice or the demeanour, to dismiss them because it does not fit your agenda is then too abandon hope; and to remove hope is kick that person when they are down and out.
The defiance that comes through Lauren Anderson in her new E.P. Won’t Stay Down as she emphatically tackle’s her own artistic journey, of confidence and empowerment to others placed in the same situation is the rallying call to the multitude let down by a system that believes we should be grateful to even being seen, let alone being heard.
The tracks Honey, Call Me Baby, Too Little Too Late, I Won’t Stay Down, Cake, Wild And Free typify the aggression required when someone decides to string you along, you fight back with passion, you prove them wrong and you make them regret their own actions, however, as Ms. Anderson sings with such resounding beauty and performing with the smile of an angel who holds all the cards, it is done with grace, after all your mantra is to not stay down, not to push someone below you.
A scintillating set of songs which show elegance and evolvement, a place in which we should all achieve to be, on an equal footing and having our words respected.
Lauren Anderson releases Won’t Stay Down on July 26th.
Ian D. Hall