The greatest strength any up-and-coming singer/songwriter can offer is owning a voice which cuts through the scores of choices filtering from ubiquitous stereo speakers. Even then, it’s not enough to have the voice, you have to know how to use it in order to be heard.
So bravo Ms. Lera Lynn, I hear you loud and clear.
On her debut album Have You Met Lera Lynn?, the Houston-born singer shapes an artistic arc of sounds with a voice part brooding, part hopeful, and part yearning, forging a whole set of simmering songs.
Her croon takes the lead on the album-opening Whiskey, with Lynn singing “I don’t know if I’m coming or going/I just keep the whiskey flowing” over a gentle beat of snare and pedal steel. Lynn, not wishing to linger in stillness, picks up the tempo and channels her inner Norah Jones for Happily Ever After and the catchy Gasoline (which doesn’t fully rock, but rolls at a respectable pace).
But it’s the slow burn where Lynn excels. Bobby, Baby, a song about the troubles of her father, is stamped with guile and emotion as she sings “Bobby, Baby, we all know the deal/Your road was hard and long/And straight up a hill.” Paper Anchor tells of a “drunk man’s daughter/child of anger” against a lilting piano and tender strings. It’s powerful and personal, all sung in a voice not to be ignored.
There is a tendency to become too rote musically here and there, but it’s usually saved by Lynn’s lovely pipes. In all she cuts through the din by the force of her message. If you haven’t met Lera Lynn, you should.
