When Lauren Alaina released her debut album four years ago, shortly after finishing second on American Idol, a lot of people underestimated her, as is often the case with reality show singers. But Wildflower still stands, in my eyes, as one of the most impressive debuts of any major label female country singer over the past few years. It had a few hiccups, sure, but there were also some absolutely incredible songs on there that I couldn’t believe were coming from a 16-year-old. “Dirt Road Prayer” and “The Locket” are incredibly beautiful, heartfelt masterpieces, and I wish with every fibre of my being that country radio would embrace songs like that these days.
With that said, my expectations for Lauren’s newest self-titled EP were pretty high. I was tempering them a bit, after the disastrous “Barefoot and Buckwild” in 2013, but I’d also seen recent live performances of fantastic songs like “Same Day Different Bottle” and “Doing Fine,” so I was cautiously optimistic.
Certainly, there are moments of promise on the new EP, such as “Painting Pillows,” a breakup track that uses the metaphor of mascara-stained pillows being works of art to showcase the narrator’s pain. “Road Less Traveled” is another promising track, though its “go your own way” message gets a bit lost in its production. The EP is an overall enjoyable listen, but it also feels like an attempt to piggyback off the recent #1 success of Kelsea Ballerini, with a pop sheen on the songs and generically relatable lyrics that hope to bring in young, female listeners. In the process, the songs lose a bit of that Lauren Alaina magic that her old material had.
There’s no standout song that I feel determined to tweet incessantly about in hopes of converting my friends into fans, no incredible lyric that makes me sit up a little straighter in my chair and think “wow, that is so true.” Instead, we’ve got a song like “History,” which was penned specifically for use in ESPN’s college football coverage. It’s not that it’s necessarily a bad song, but it has no business being on Lauren’s first release in four years, a release that should be showcasing her absolute best material to show radio programmers and the listening public what they’ve been missing out on — what makes Lauren stand out from her peers.
In what is perhaps an attempt by her label to increase Lauren’s radio presence, her personality and unique songwriting voice has been sacrificed. This isn’t unusual among major labels — going with material that’s tried and true over riskier, unique songs is common practice.
Sure, it’s catchy and radio-friendly, particularly lead single “Next Boyfriend,” but whether a song hits or has the potential to hit #1 on the radio charts is not how I measure its quality. And frankly, I think Lauren will still struggle on the radio with this material, precisely because it sounds so similar to other current female artists like Kelsea Ballerini. Like it or not, women are held to a different standard in country music than men, and while the charts can be filled with men who all sound the same (at least to my ears), women need to carve out a niche for themselves in order to find success.
It’s the women who’ve really stood out, really taken the “road less traveled,” who’ve found the greatest success in country music history. Loretta Lynn, for example, released “The Pill” — which would be considered controversial even today, let alone back in 1975 — and had several other songs banned on many radio stations. Yet she’s gone down as one of the most legendary artists in country music history, male or female. In more recent times, Miranda Lambert found a breakthrough hit with 2010’s “The House That Built Me,” a quiet ballad that was a real radio risk at the time, yet it went on to win a Grammy, go platinum and become perhaps her greatest “career” song.
I think Lauren has incredible potential. Her voice has gotten stronger since her debut, despite last year’s vocal surgery, and she’s wowed me in several live performances with absolutely fantastic material. Hopefully her next full-length record will showcase more of that side of her — maybe they’re saving the best material for that release. I truly feel that it’s when she lets herself (or, when her label lets her) showcase her raw, beautiful personality that she’ll find not only the most artistic fulfilment personally, but also the most commercial success as well. History remembers innovative, daring songs that go against the grain of what every other artist at the time was doing, like Reba’s “Fancy” or Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”.
Lauren’s fans may feel I’m being too hard on her, and maybe I am. Maybe I’m placing expectations on her that are too high. There are areas of wonderful growth on this record, particularly vocally. It’s the material itself that I feel needs more love and attention, and I know Lauren has some excellent material up her sleeves — she’s shown it live. I bring up iconic songs and artists in country music history for a reason — I genuinely think Lauren has the potential to go down in the history books as well. She has the talent to do it.
So even though I am slightly disappointed in this particular project, I’ll wait with great anticipation for her next one.
Originally posted here.
