Album Review: A Prodigal Iconoclast Returns To Her Soul As LOLO Brings Lauren Pritchard Home For Herself & Everybody Else With lauren|LOLO

Heigh Ho, my lovely rainbow readers, Bobby Patrick, your rainbow CABARET reviewer, has decided to stick around in CD-Land and continue to offer our broken-down breakdowns on new music releases. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

So, If you read Bobby's review of 13 THE MUSICAL Soundtrack, you're prolly thinkin', "OH Yeah, from cabaret to The Broadway - that tracks as Bobby's bailiwick," and you would be right ... most of the time. BUT, steady yourselves, my lambs, because this week we are selling our soul to Rock & Roll (Alt) and giving our sensitive ears over to LOLO! Now, those who are deep in the musical theatre scene may know that LOLO is the recording industry nom de voyage (what? Bobby knows French words, too!) of former Broadway belter Lauren Pritchard, late of the smash hit SPRING AWAKENING, where she wowed the crowd creating the role of Ilse in that incomparable original. Sadly, that's the last time we saw her "On The Street" but, happily, she has spent loads of time since 2008 creating her own music and crafting her own sound, which is a nice segue to talking about her 4th album lauren|LOLO. Through the years as Lauren became LOLO she has found the industry challenging, with regards to the music she really wanted to create. lauren|LOLO is a reflection of those frustrations and is meant to be "...A tell-all record that asserts & combats the structures of the music industry, ... a declaration of freedom that defies genre ... a collection of songs written over the last decade that were never allowed to be released." So says her press release. Well, Bravo, LOLO!

Sitting down with Madam Merlot and giving this one a listen, Bobby was immediately swept onto the dancefloor with COME TO MAMA. The driving beats, coupled with her rich, earthy voice elicited couch dancing from yours truly. In the last year, Lauren has become a mother and one can imagine the pulsating rhythms, like a heartbeat, and lyrics like "Come to mama when you're heavy and I will hold you" have a double meaning for her, in the world of music and motherhood. This is a track that begs for the best DJ to give it the best dance mix so this Grammy Nominee can score a hit on the dance charts, too. It's oddly wonderful to find your favorite track right off the bat, but this one sticks with you long after hearing it. The journey continues with YELLOW BRICK ROAD - loaded with Pop beats, her range stands out because this lady has got enviable top & bottom notes. Danceable & singable, this searching song contains some truly fine poetry in its lyrics. These two opening tracks lift the listener into her music industry burn book, telling managers and labels that her voice will now be heard. Skipping down a bit (because Bobby could go track after track, telling you how great we think this music is, but ((((snore))))) ) # 6 - SUNSHINE & RAINBOWS - is a favorite in its perverse fusion of poppy plucky ukulele sounds, with its "How did I ever fall for you, you pig who ruined my life" lyrics, all subversively pleasant-sounding but about a real ash-hole, and with such strong vocals. It creates more than smiles... more like evil grins, and Bobby loves that. The other stand-out award has to go to #9 - TOO - with its solid folk roots and darker drum beats, and a message of those maddening relationship moments of "Yes, I crossed a line, but you did that to me too!" This is a true wailing-from-the-hurt moment, but it's Our Hurt caused by a sword that cuts both ways... and then along came track 12 - Miles To Go. With its clock ticking beat in the background adding to the pressure as words and music rise and fall to rise again, the message is of a head held high as there is nowhere to go but forward. It was also a compellingly interesting choice to leave the last 1.25 minutes to the instruments - hauntingly trailing down quieter & quieter into nothingness. Each cut from the album offers up different sides of LOLO in her own way, in defiance of the industry that wants a brand that doesn't waiver. This is a declaration of artistic intent and freedom breaking the bonds of the biz, the audience, and everyone to be the music-maker she was born to be, not what everyone else wants her to be. No wonder this album debuted at number 6 on the Alternative charts.

In all, it is truly Lauren's ancient-sounding, earth mother voice that imbues all of this very personal music with the stinging hurt and uplifting triumph of a music creator fusing all the parts of herself; a singer, a songwriter, a country girl, and a mother. With this album, LOLO is telling an industry that tried to keep her voice in their own box that she is free now. One can't help but be captivated by the lauren|LOLO fusion that will not be denied, and Bobby says thank rainbow because this one gets a rousing...

4 Out Of 5 Rainbows.

You Can Hear & See All Things LOLO On Her Website: HERE

Photos By, Jeremy Ryan Studios

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