Lawson first caught my eye when I saw them open up for The
Wanted and, as I predicted, they have exploded onto the charts and are on their
way to huge success. Boy bands such as One Direction and The Wanted are
certainly dominating the Top 40 at the moment, but Lawson are definitely a band
as opposed to a BOY band because they play all of their own instruments (and
write their own songs, earning them lots of credibility). The band have said
that their inspirations for their debut album, 'Chapman Square', are John Mayer
and The Wanted, but their music reminds me more of Coldplay's recent work.
However, my favourite from the album is 'The Girl I Knew' and I have chosen it
as today's recommendation because I think it is beautifully written and
performed. It is a simple, acoustic song that is an excellent example of a band
stripping down to tell an emotional story. The song immediately captivates you
as Andy Brown's vocals have a lot of depth and soul. The chorus involves a key
change with the repetition of 'The Girl I Knew' to emphasise that this is a
song about heartbreak and missing somebody. Mentioning 'Covent Garden' reminds
the listener that this is a British band and including a location that is
familiar with many people is great as it helps the listener to imagine the
story. This is the first time one of my recommendations has been 'mainstream'
as such, but airplay and chart success has not brainwashed this band into
making music that the record label wants instead of what they want to write and
I hope that this continues. The matter is controversial but I believe a
talented band like Lawson deserves to sell lots of records rather than songs
with meaningless lyrics and heavily auto-tuned vocals. Definitely give 'Chapman
Square' a listen and decide for yourself which is your favourite (meaning song
not gorgeous band member, but I guess you can do both!)
