LAUREN AQUILINA:

To anyone who might have read this blog when it first started (which I doubt any of you did but just in case you might have) you might remember me writing a similar sort of post about this lady and her song 'Sinners'. In fact, I think it might have been one of my first ever posts and so, to say Lauren Aquilina is an artist I have admired for a while now, may be a slight understatement. She was one of the first artists I ever wrote about; if that doesn't prove why I think you should give her a listen, I don't know what will.

You could say I might be a bit biased. Both being young-piano playing-Taylor Swift loving- sorta people does give us some common ground and perhaps it is that I fit into the 'target audience' she would appeal too, yet, Lauren has this ability to captivate you within the first 30 seconds of any of her songs. Be it the piano, her voice or on her facebook/twitter with her funny captions and obsession with Bourbon biscuits, you get the impression through both her music and her being, that she is a normal person, using music as a way to explain and deal with the emotions and situations she expresses in her songs. For this reason, she immediately becomes the kind of musician I admire. The fact the kind of songs she writes are ones that I love just seems to be added bonus.

I heard 'Sinners' when it was iTunes' single of the week (way back in 2013 I think?) and I found myself downloading it and listening to it repeat, to the point it is a still a song I never skip on shuffle today. As evident in this track, the piano and orchestration holds a sort of simplicity, deepened by the poetic lyrics and majestic vocal lines, which cut through your ears, touching the emotions within yourself just as emotively as Lauren sings them. It is through this you are able to connect easily with her songs, perhaps not the subject itself, but the honesty and clarity at which you are told it; the sparse piano chords and drone like settings allow you to feel relaxed enough to feel this way.

Don't think that because of this, her songs are boring. Each track is given a climax; a part in which Lauren successfully plays on this open-ness and darkens it with the use of drums, strings and pedal notes, making the song thicker without taking away it's clearness. 

Lauren was sent into a frenzy last year when the Queen of Music (perhaps slight exaggeration but I love her no less) Taylor Swift tweeted her in admiration of one of her EP's... I think it's fair to say if T-Swift gives you the thumbs up, you're definitely worth at least a listen right?

I think Lauren won't be everyone's cup of tea but I find it hard, whoever you are and whatever you like, to find a lyric in one of her songs which you won't be able to relate too or respect. I placed her on my 'To Watch in 2015' list because I expect great things from her and know her debut album will be something I will most definitely be giving a listen too! 

Here is the video for my favourite song of her's 'Sinners';