Leah Lawson - “Colder”
Somewhere around 2015, in a useless effort to reduce my anxiety, I began to shed my punk rock skin and, instead, buried my head inside the work of Gregory Alan Isakov, Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, et al, trading distortion for something soft, quiet, and predominantly acoustic. Fast forward a few years and I was constantly spinning Spotify’s Infinite Indie Folk playlist, where I discovered Julien Baker’s mesmerizing “Sprained Ankle.” Now, fast forward to today, when I first pressed play on Leah Lawson’s “Colder,” where I was immediately drawn to its parallels with the work of Baker. As I’ve said before, I never wish to cheapen the value of another’s art with such broad comparisons, but I feel that this one is safe to state as Lawson, herself, mentions the likeness in her own Spotify bio. And it’s totally fine if you’re not completely familiar with any of the artists I’ve just mentioned; instead, let me recommend that you listen to “Colder.”
The track opens with some orchestral, synthy-type artifacts, setting the vibe before quickly being joined by Lawson’s Telecaster. Her voice shortly follows and although one might marvel at how soft and effortlessly she breaks in and out of falsetto, I found the real payday in her lyrics. Over the past couple of years, we have all had to deal with adjusting our lives in order to follow CDC guidelines, experiencing the hell that is political discourse, and witnessing the blatant disregard for human rights– when you think about it, 2020 seems like it was a hundred years ago while simultaneously feeling like it was yesterday. So when she delivers the hook and tells us, “I feel so much older than last year,” it resonates more deeply than it probably should– because in one way or another, for one reason or another, we all feel older than we’re actually supposed to feel at this moment in our lives.
If you do not already have a playlist that you loop while this planet slowly eats its own tail, I suggest you start one, with this song firmly in the top slot. And while you’re at it, pre-save “Flood House,” due out on September 16.
-TM