Album Review: LOLO's "In Loving Memory of When I Gave a Sh*t"
Lauren Pritchard (LOLO) doesn’t care what you think about her, and just to make sure you never forget it, she named her new album, In Loving Memory of When I Gave a Sh*t.
This particular album is a collection of very self-aware songs that seem to offer the listener a firm idea of where Lauren’s direction as an artist is going. This is Lauren’s first release since her 2010 full-length, Wasted in Jackson, and it is without a doubt a departure from the sound that characterized that album. The change is quite welcome and seems to be a perfect fit.
Listeners will be pleased to know that even though the overall sound is mostly different, Lauren’s foundation has not wavered. She’s still a Tennessean with almost too much soul to carry.
“Heard it From a Friend” is what happens when you cross LOLO. The mix of verbal confrontation laced with the deep-pocketed rhythm section makes it abundantly clear what you can expect from the rest of the album, and that’s a whole lot of truth with true precision.
“Shine” is LOLO’s answer to a series of events that brought her to a particularly low point in 2014. The song is inspired by bouts with depression as well as the deaths of a few friends to suicide. This song was written after LOLO moved back to her hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, to reset and reevaluate. Though the song’s inspiration is dark, it’s message is anthemic, uplifting, and hopeful. The chorus reads:
Why you waiting on the world for a favor?
This is your life go ahead and change it.
You're the brightest star in the sky,
But no one’s gonna know if you never shine.
Why you waiting on someone else
To give you the things that you want yourself? Oh,
You're the brightest star in the sky,
So go ahead and shine, yeah, go ahead and shine.
“The Devil’s Gone to Dinner” has the hookiest chorus on the album and also does a great job of continuing the album’s central theme of not giving a sh*t. The bridge shows exactly where LOLO stands with her figurative or literal devil:
There’s a man in the sky waiting for me
Who knows all the things I’ve done,
Good and bad, good and bad.
In Loving Memory of When I Gave A Sh*t is meant to be empowering but in a tough love sort of way. You can’t make everyone happy and will more than likely tick a few people off in your lifetime, but who really cares, though? You are your own main character, and unless you live to the service of others, you shouldn’t lose sleep over messing up a lot. Messing up is what makes you a human.
Bo Kitzman likes music and sports, but playing music is his favorite. You should buy Bo burritos. Bo loves burritos.
Photography provided by LOLO.
