Drenched in authenticity, barstool charm and Tennessee limestone gravel in her voice, Nashville-born and bred songbird Lauren Watkins writes, breathes, and lives country music. The 23-year-old grew up mesmerised by a jukebox rotation of country music: from outlaws like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow to chart-toppers Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and Chris Stapleton. Moving back to Nashville after four years at Ole Miss, Watkins’ unyielding, turn on a dime lyricism quickly caught the attention of GRAMMY-nominated songwriter Nicolle Galyon, who signed her to publishing and recording contracts with Songs & Daughters / Big Loud Records almost instantly and ‘Introducing Lauren Watkins’ is the result.
Across the 7 tracks on offer here you’ll find Country music staples like heartbreak, longing, smoking, drinking and jealously, all laid bare with an honest, raw and biting kind of lyricism that belies Watkins’ relatively tender age and inexperience. Touchstones range from early Kacey Musgraves through to artists like Sherly Crow with a little honky-tonk bar room flavour on stand-out track ‘Dark Places’ too.
Watkins is nothing if not open in her lyrics. She holds nothing back. Opening track ‘Sleeping in My Make Up’ finds her telling us that ‘I’m a dive bar, shit show, downward spiral, lately’ on a classic Country music cheating song that reminds me very much of early Kacey Musgraves. A strong melody and a similar bite in the lyrics that was a feature of the aforementioned Musgraves’ first two albums can be found here. ‘He’s sleeping in her bed and I’m sleeping in my make up,’ Watkins admits on a raw, live-feeling song that really highlights her strong, gravelly vocals.
Relationships, in all their messy glory, are a big theme across this EP. ‘Anybody But You’, co-written with Ernest and Rodney Clawson amongst others, is a scathing look at a woman trying to move on from an ex, but not necessarily in the most healthy way. ‘I wanna get messed up in the sheets with a stranger,’ Watkins sings at one point before admitting, ‘the only way to fall out of love with you is to hate you.’ ‘Anybody But You’ would be a perfect choice for a radio single – it’s a great melodic song with a catchy chorus and the kind of lyrics that draw you into the narrative of the story and actually make you listen to what she is saying.
Similarly, ‘Ole Miss’ and ‘ Shirley Temple’ also bring us a snapshot of what’s going on in Watkins’ life and a window into some of the darker thoughts running through her head. The former touches upon where she went to college and a relationship between ‘two kids falling in like they didn’t know it would end up in the rear view, fading slow.’ College relationships can be intense and and exciting but when the real world interjects they often crumble and that is what has happened here. Sheryl Crow vibes abound on this intriguing tale of wistful longing and innocence subverted. ‘Shirley Temple’, meanwhile, written alongside the deft hand of Watkins’ mentor, Nicole Galyon, is a heartfelt look at desire and jealousy set against some plaintive guitars and early Musgraves feels. It’s a clever song about wanting someone you can’t have with the drink being personified for creative and emotional impact.
At this point we need to throw ‘Camel Blues’ into the mix. ‘Got a broken AC and 18 dollars to my name,’ Watkins shares on this fragile, acoustic tribute to cigarettes and ‘the shit they get you through’. Sharp lyrics and a risky subject matter leave you in no doubt that this is an artist who isn’t going to play safe for ‘radio adds’. Watkins is going to take risks and tell truths in her songs, even if it means going against convention or what is ‘safe’ and ‘family-friendly’ on Music Row.
Not everything on the EP is heavy and angst ridden, however. ‘Grain of Salt’ is a funky, Southern-infused number with an acoustic heart but electric sheen. ‘Take it with a grain of salt and a shot of tequila,’ Watkins sings, encouraging people to chill out a little rather than being angry all the time about everything. It’s a clever song wrapped up in a kind of Niko Moon-esque happy facade that has a lot to say: so even when Watkins is encouraging you to drink away all your worries there’s still an intelligence going on quietly underneath that isn’t found in Country music all the time.
The best song on the EP is final song, ‘Dark Places’. This is a song that seems to encapsulate the messages, vibes and impact of the other six songs in a glorious 3 minute bar-room romp with serious 90s overtones. Some plaintive Texan guitars and a wonderfully long, elongated chorus puts me in mind of something akin to Midland’s ‘Drinkin’ Problem’ in terms of the cadence and melody as Watkins sings about ‘spirits being high’ and ‘standards being low.’ ‘Since you’ve been gone,’ she admits,’ dark places are the only places I go.’
‘Introducing Lauren Watkins’ is a clever, impactful, biting project. Watkins shows herself to be a thoughtful, insightful study of the human character and is more than willing to air her own failings and foibles in the great tradition of Country music songwriting. Someone, somewhere down the line has hurt her and she’s channelled that anger, the hurt and the wistful longing into something powerfully creative on this EP. There’s a sharp humour at play here too, something the genre hasn’t seen since ‘Same Trailer Different Park’ era Kacey Musgraves and a mature, slick Sheryl Crow-esque sheen to the music that means Big Loud have got an interesting, intelligent artist on their hands with a bright and promising future ahead of her.
Tracklist: 1. Sleeping in My Make Up 2. Camel Blues 3. Anybody But You 4. Grain of Salt 5. Shirley Temple 6. Ole Miss 7. Dark Places Record Label: Big Loud Release Date: 21st April Buy ‘Introducing Lauren Watkins’ now
