LORA's ‘Define’ Is A Chilled-Out Track About Feeling Helpless
LORA. Photo supplied.
You can feel the pain in every note of Sydney songwriter LORA’s new track Define, but it’s not pure melancholy. Her vocals are captivating, and easily the highlight of the song. The track’s production feels a lot more positive than LORA’s vocals, or the lyrical content, and the two sides of the song contrast nicely. The track’s guitar and drums serve to highlight LORA’s vocals, and I can’t help but agree with the review triple j’s Dave Ruby Howe left about the track - this song is absolutely radio-ready.
There’s a difficulty in being able to give a song emotional weight without overwhelming the listener. Define is a great example of how to produce a song that is poignant, but if you listen to it in a good mood, it won’t bring you down - quite the opposite. LORA draws from personal experience to capture the push-pull feeling of watching someone close to you struggle, but waiting for them to figure it out in their own time. You feel like you’re walking on eggshells, unable to help but always there to support them.
Speaking about the track, LORA says it’s about being unable to help someone in their time of need. “The song is about watching someone struggle and seeing their hurt from afar. They act like everything’s fine when you can see so clearly that it isn't.” Each note that she sings captures the tension that exists in such a situation, and it’s interesting to hear how the production hides the emotion in her vocals. There’s no doubting that LORA’s vocals are the highlight of Define, but don’t let that influence your opinion of the production. Each element of this track has been crafted with some serious love and attention.
Define comes off her debut EP, Introduction, which serves as the “first stage” of the LORA project. She’s blending the best elements of singer-songwriter storytelling with elements from electronica, hip-hop and indie rock to create soundscapes that are both addictive and illuminating. Calling on influences as disparate as Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish and Kaytranada, it’s clear that there’s been a lot of heart put into Define, and indeed this EP, and the end result is a project that feels like a warm embrace (as well as an invitation to dance).
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Check out Define below. 2021 is still young, but I’ll be thinking about this track throughout this year, and it’ll be one I re-visit throughout. It’s always a danger bringing together elements of genres that don’t always mix, but Define shows what can be created when artists can pull from influences that don’t necessarily mesh on paper. Introduction is the first complete realisation of LORA’s music, and I hope there’s much more to come. Don’t be surprised to hear her name a lot more in the future.