Lauren Lakis is a Baltimore-born songwriter striking a fascinating chord between shoegaze and dark rock. Her latest album A Fiesta and a Hell beacons the impending season with haunting lyricism, subliminally squeamish riffs, and deeply ruminative meditations on the nature of rage. It’s interesting that Lakis is able to find a balance between the two; between unbridled instincts and calculated composure – and yet, she does it seamlessly. A Fiesta and a Hell is inextricably linked to the collective weight we share as a society saturated with media, violence, and loss. Lakis doesn’t shy away from the things that make her nervous, but rather, she explores the cavernous bends of her inner-psyche and emerges with luminary takeaways.
A Fiesta and a Hell is burgeoning with lucid layers of metallic riffs, ominous cascades of percussion, and a vocal that echoes like a midnight drive through a desolate tunnel. Her track “Terror Tears” is an outcry against the tumultuous and oftentimes unconcious cycle of consuming propaganda within the media sphere. In a similar vein, her second song off the album “Take My Hand” is about freeing your mind from toxic thought patterns and emerging into independence. Transversely, her song “Leave Your Window” is a slow, soul-crushing love song inspired by the lore of vampires. A Fiesta and a Hell is a multi-dimensional journey through the modern world with rebellious notes of existential dread.
Revealing more on her album, Lauren Lakis admits, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” There is no better way for me to describe the past few years. In this time, I’ve grappled with intense grief, personally and for the collective, and anger that sometimes borders on rage. It’s hard to be a loving, open-hearted person in a world that can be so cold and alienating. Many facets of life have felt devoid of warmth and care; many people have felt devoid of warmth and care. And yet, because you can’t have hell without heaven, I’ve been simultaneously shown unconditional love on a scale I’ve never before experienced, too. We truly cannot have light without the dark; words to remember when the world is at its most bleak.”
Lauren Lakis has toured the West Coast, sharing the stage with bands including Ringo Deathstarr, Holy Wave, Sea Wolf, Peel Dream Magazine, and Drowse. A Fiesta and a Hell is her highly anticipated new release.
