Brooklyn-based indie folk singer-songwriter Gemma Laurence's pulsing, anthemic "Lavender," the lead single and title track to her forthcoming second album (out November 2022 via Better Company Records/The Orchard), is about embracing and celebrating queerness.
The song, which Laurence wrote for her best friend, is about the challenges of coming out ("You're crying out, why can't they see? The restless fugue of pink and blue, your identity," Laurence sings), but it's also about the elation and freedom of sharing your true self with the world.
"And I know it's not easy," Laurence sings. "To shed your skin and be the woman you were born to be."
"'Lavender' actually started out as a solo banjo song! It wasn't until we got to the studio that we realized it had to be bigger," Laurence tells Wide Open Country. "We kept on rehearsing it as a band (me, my producer Charlie Dahlke and Micah Rubin, who plays drums on the track) and it didn't quite work — felt a bit too sing-songy and campfire-esque. So then Charlie just goes 'what if we made it a rock song?' And so we did. We dimmed the lights and lit some candles and jammed out and it became the rock n roll anthem. Couldn't have happened without Charlie or Micah."
Listen to "Lavender" below.
Laurence, who describes her music as Sapphic folk, previously released the critically acclaimed "Adrienne," a tender, yearning song for a past love.
