“What’s it like to wake up and not wanna die” is the first question Lauren Strange presents on 2020’s The Solution, a collection of seven songs that unintentionally became the perfect soundtrack to a pandemic. In a year of isolation, cracks in everyone’s mental health were exposed more than ever and Strange has been navigating that herself for years. Her songwriting borders on uncomfortably honest at times but that authenticity has become a lost art in today’s popular music.
In a normal year, The Solution would have made serious waves and launched her up festival posters. Courtney Barnett comes to mind as a like-minded artist who writes what she knows but Strange’s music stands apart from today’s alt-indie scene because her guitar shows no remorse. The songs are built to be played loud – Liz Phair fronting The Pixies might be a fair description. It’s not a new formula but it is a formula that has gone out of style which makes The Solution that much more engaging.
A grand-prize winner of the John Lennon International Songwriting Contest in 2010, Strange’s writing overflows with clever and biting observations. The acoustic “Xanax And Coffee” wraps anxiety in a beautiful melody as she sings “I’m sad over things that haven’t even happened yet.” No, xanax and coffee isn’t a solution but brilliant songs are and Strange has gifted them to us when many of us needed them most.
If it’s an anthem for the lonely you want, Lauren Strange’s “Easy” will not let you down. It was a song that spoke to me during the pandemic but I’m finding new meanings in it. As the anxiety of returning to social circles post-pandemic is closing in around me, the realization that nothing will ever be easy again makes me hold on to the music just a little tighter. “Do You Wish” encourages you to keep driving with the windows down after “Easy” and the chorus begs you to scream along and leave your regrets at a truck-stop somewhere south of Nashville.
Right now, you can get the entire Lauren Strange discography off Bandcamp for $16. The early EP’s and singles are fantastic as well and there are two wonderful covers waiting for you. While she stays faithful to The Cranberries with her version of “Zombie”, she takes David Bowie’s “Changes” somewhere more personal. Strange’s social media is always active and it sounds like she has a steady job in the real world with us other muggles. If you listen to The Solution, you will agree that we need her plugging in a guitar and playing her songs in front of an audience. Her songs don’t offer solutions but at least we can laugh about that together. Just knowing someone so talented hasn’t found the answers makes each day a little better for the rest of us.