Album Review: Lauren Tate – Songs For Sad Girls

Lauren Tate is set to launch “Songs For Sad Girls“, her first solo album in five years, in those intervening years she has been the front woman and creative drive behind Hands Off Gretel, those expecting another hit of grungy punk rock are about to be thrown a curve ball as this is an album that heads off in a very different direction. “Songs For Sad Girls” kicks off with the Americana influenced second single “WhatAbout The Kids” that tackles gun violence in the US, whilst the delivery is very different from that of Hands Off Gretel the passion, venom and emotion that is the hallmark of Lauren Tate‘s songwriting is still present with the chorus lyrically spat out. This is followed by the album’s first single “Miss American Perfect Body“, a heartfelt ballad addressing body image that for me would be a candidate for an appearance on one of Johnny Cash‘s American albums had he still been with us. 

Fans of Lauren Tate‘s releases with Hands Off Gretel won’t be disappointed as there are moments that veer closer to her ascending outfit, “He Wanted More“, that appeared on the “Bedroom Sessions” demo album, makes a welcome and deserved return to appear in it’s full glory, there is also “Bad Egg Blues“, a dark reimagining of “Bad Egg” from Hands Off Gretel‘s 2016 debut album “Burn The Beauty Queen” and a nod to last year’s “I Want The World” with the “Oh Na Na Na (I Want The World)“, these however are the exceptions, “Songs For Sad Girls” is a very different beast to her previous releases and it’s one that strays down a dark path.

The dark Americana of “Can’t Keep My Hands Off You” takes on toxic relationships, this is followed by the playful “He Loves Me“, a track delivered in the style of a classic 50’s American love song but one that is juxtaposed against much darker lyrical matter that addressees domestic violence. There are recurring themes of abuse of trust across “Songs For Sad Girls” on tracks such as “Naturally Born Bad” and the album’s hardest hitting moment “Rock N Roll Radio“, that tackles the sexual manipulation and abuse of minors. The album builds to an emotional finale with the haunting duo of “Monsters” and “How Fucking Dare You” whilst the album’s closing track “Teddy” is an emotionally harrowing track that conjures up images of lost innocence. 

What Lauren Tate has delivered is a personal, heartfelt and passionate album, the essence of her songwriting that has made Hands Off Gretel such an essential band is present but with “Songs For Sad Girls‘ she has shown that she can stand alone and deliver an album that is sonically a very different prospect, but crucially it is one that remains the equal of her previous releases. With “Songs For Sad Girls” Lauren Tate has released a powerful and thoughtful album that has been created totally on her own terms, in the wake of this release I can only say that right here and right now I can’t think of a more important female voice in rock ‘n roll.

‘Songs for Sad Girls‘ is set to released via Trash Queen Records on the 20th September and the album can be pre-ordered here