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Lauren Young
CITY NIGHTS Cadventure across Northern Ireland. Me and my friend were
ity Nights’ was written the day after my return from a lengthy
riding our bikes along a main road towards Manchester in silence,
and I saw my familiar hometown gradually unveil itself in all its
clichéd urban glory. With memories of many nights being driven
vast and serene planes, I wrote the opening lyrics as a montage of
the chaos and grit of my home city, which in this moment struck a
euphoric chord within me.
Recognising that the experience was deeply but fleetingly
satisfying, I confess how I wasted numerous city nights in drunken
num ness, fruitless sex, and craved authenticity. I imply a
frustration at a lack of liberty within my life, and despite the
suffering “He” has bestowed upon me, I pray desperately to a “God”
I feel indebted to. I beg of Him to accept my offering of music and
truth in exchange for freedom within my transgressions. In the final
verse, extend my desperate plea to this “God”, acknowledging how
corrupt spirits of my childhood have “washed away their masks of
disguise”.
I offer a “cold goodbye” to these failed heroes in aid of resuming a
frivolous, thrilling life.
auren Young is a classically-trained pianist and singer-
Lsongwriter based in Manchester. She is the bandleader of The
Lauren Young Band, which comprises of some morally questionable
and very dedicated and talented gentlemen.
Lauren’s music is an authentic tableau of seductive melancholic jazz
and tells tales of a turbulent and manic life. A Chopin fanatic, she
has been committed to intensely studying the piano since the age of
ten, but somehow songwriting didn’t come into the picture until a
decade later. This was initiated by a growing desire to create original
works and a passion for rawer, theatrical performance. Beginning
her career with acoustic gigs in Manchester with songs such as ‘City
Nights’, ‘Strip You Down’ and ‘Mama’s Lullaby’ with segments of
virtuosic classical playing utilised as segways between songs, there
was something noticeably versatile and individual about Lauren’s
lyricism, composition and on-stage dynamic. She decided to form
a band in 2018 to expand her songs into avant-garde arrangements,
which induce a nauseating sense of euphoric surrealism.
Lauren released her debut EP ‘Blood Vessel’ in March 2020, a
three-track nautical vortex encompassing themes of heartache,
destruction, adventure and growth.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelaurenyoungband/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maqbdCJRzcI
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3bhLZbXs2jT8q-
FU9drqO9d?si=D8oKtit9S1SWNL_0KBon5g
Bandcamp: https://laurenyoungmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
www.writeawaymag.co.uk 19