Lauren Pritchard – Wasted In Jackson

Being one of the many artists filed under my “I’ve heard they’re good, I expect they’re my type of music but still can’t find the energy to investigate further” list, I was keen to listen to Lauren Pritchard’s debut album. The Tennessee born twenty two year old has found her arrival on the UK music scene to come with much excitement around it. She’s been featured in many national papers and is hotly tipped to have a promising career ahead of her. So does her record justify the hype?

Wasted In Jackson is a soulful album; each song tells a story of struggles, love and pain. It’s typical singer songwriter territory that has proven itself to work well enough so I can see it doing well. The title track is a particularly strong track along with Stuck for its easy listening guitar and percussion combination. In all honesty, all the tracks sound a bit too similar and so I find it quite difficult to differentiate between them. Despite what you may think, this isn’t exactly a bad thing.

Not The Drinking holds a lot of promise with the soothing vocals that evolve into a more jazz style as the song progresses. Aided by the trumpets, it picks up pace and definitely captured my attention with the emotionally rich lyrics.  Showing a different side to her songwriting I Hope It’s You is far more up tempo. The electronic track stands out from the album for daring to be different and this is definitely to Pritchard’s credit.

Pritchard’s got talent – that’s undeniable. Every song is pleasant to listen to and I am genuinely happy that I have finally explored what she has to offer. But there’s just something about her that doesn’t quite sparkle, which is strange because I’m really being charmed by this album. Songs such as No Way and Going Home prove this point to me. Vocally Pritchard is faultless and lyrically there’s not a word out of place, but they’re both a little too slow and too repetitive for my liking to make them something special.

I really like this album, I honestly do. I just wish that I could love it. And you know what? In time, I think I will.

www.laurenpritchard.com