Liz Lawrence is an artist that saw live a couple of times by chance. Firstly as support to Brooke Fraser and then to The Civil Wars, both times in The Sugar Club in Dublin. From there, I had some knowledge of Lawrence’s music. She writes catchy melodies, isn’t down at the mouth/woe is me like a lot of singer/songwriters and when she performs live, seems to dance with her guitar.
Transferring an upbeat vibe from stage to record can be a challenging task but one that Lawrence seems to have comfortably achieved. The album gently opens with the title track, ‘Bedroom Hero’ an anthemic track that builds and lyrically captures a memory without being too nostalgic.
This is followed up by the uptempo single ‘Oo Song’, whose melody drags you in, making you sing along before you realize it. This song doesn’t loose the swagger it has live as is the case with ‘Monday Morning’ (which should be a hit, like everywhere on the planet). Both beautifully capture what Lawrence has live and show her to be a clever songwriter.
The production on ‘Bedroom Hero’ firmly places Lawrence under the indie label. Even on slower tracks, like ‘Bathroom Spoons’, the production can surprise and sometimes be reminiscent of artists such as Feist. That’s not all though as ‘Give Me Comfort’ has a rhythm that could easily cross over into the dance genre.
This album shows what a good artist Lawrence is and how much potential she has for the future. Tracks like ‘One Day’ deserve to be heard and set her apart from the crowd. An interesting, enjoyable and memorable debut.